Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
Chandigarh, Congress Deputy Leader in the Lok Sabha Capt Amarinder Singh today asked the Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal not to set wrong precedents by belittling the institution of an MLA, who happens to be an elected representative of the people and comes above the Chief Secretary in the standard government protocol.
“Or is it that you have been bullied by some officers to mark such inquiry as you often cry hoarse that they gang up together to defend their erring colleagues”, he asked Mr Badal, while adding, otherwise by marking an inquiry against an MLA to a commissioner level officer, Mr Badal was undermining the standard protocol that places an MLA above the Chief Secretary.
In a statement issued here today, the former Chief Minister expressed surprise as what was the need to mark the inquiry to the commissioner when the Speaker of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha was already seized of the matter and had summoned everybody involved in the case on September 24. “You have not only tried to belittle the institution of an MLA, but also tried to undermine the constitutional authority of the Speaker of the Vidhan Sabha”, he told Mr Badal.
“Are you not the same Chief Minister who said only a few months ago that it was difficult to take any action against any of the erring officers as all of them gang up together to defend their colleagues?” Capt Amarinder reminded the Chief Minister, asking, “should I conclude that they have ganged up and bullied you down to mark any inquiry to the commissioner against an elected representative and forcing you to breach the protocol?”
However, he clarified, “having said that, I am of the firm belief and opinion that not all the officers are like what you were trying to project them and there are so many outstanding and upright officers who can never play second fiddle to you”.
He asserted, “it is not the issue of a Congress MLA but about the elected representatives of the people who may belong to any party”. He said, only the Speaker can inquire into the matter and he was already on the job. “By assigning a parallel inquiry to the commissioner Mr Badal has apparently betrayed his lack of faith in the constitutional authority of the Speaker”, he said, adding, besides the Speaker there is a Privilege Committee of the House to which such matters can be referred but not to an official who is far too junior in protocol to an MLA.
