The Hindu : Front Page : Uproar over Goa Government dismissal; both Houses adjourned

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Wednesday, Mar 02, 2005

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Uproar over Goa Government dismissal; both Houses adjourned

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, MARCH 1. The Opposition today forced an adjournment in both Houses of Parliament over the dismissal of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Government in Goa. While the Lok Sabha was adjourned without transaction of business in the morning, the Rajya Sabha followed suit in the afternoon after an unrelenting Opposition maintained its fire despite a two-hour pre-lunch adjournment.

In both Houses, the Opposition raised the issue as soon as it met for the day. Amid slogan raising, the Opposition demanded the suspension of question hour to move an adjournment motion regarding the dismissal of the "duly elected Manohar Parrikar Government" by the Governor of Goa.

The Opposition in the Lok Sabha found support for its cause in the Samajwadi Party.

Though the Lok Sabha Speaker, Somnath Chatterjee, allowed the Leader of the Opposition, L.K. Advani, to speak about the admissibility of the motion and the Leader of the House, Pranab Mukherjee, to respond, he turned it down on the premise that the rules did not permit it; leading to the first adjournment for 15 minutes.

But with leaders of the two main political combinations agreeing to an adjournment of the House for the day at a meeting in the Speaker's Chamber, Mr. Chatterjee — while withholding his "consent to the notice of adjournment motion" — gave in to the consensus and adjourned the Lok Sabha for the day. Of the view that the issue ought to be discussed in the House, the Speaker, in his observations, maintained that the right to move an adjournment motion for discussing a matter of urgent public importance was subject to the condition that it did "not deal with any matter which is under adjudication by a court of law."

Further, quoting Kaul and Shakdher — a well-known book on Parliamentary practices — he said: "It has been held by Speakers from time to time that conduct of the Governor of a State should not be raised by way of an adjournment motion."

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