Privilege motion: Maharashtra House ‘won’t take note of court’ in Arnab case
The legislature and judiciary have now come face to face on the privilege violation motion brought against Republic TV editor-anchor Arnab Goswami in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly. A day before, a resolution has been passed in both the houses of the state, stating that in the Arnab case, the House will neither take cognizance of the notice of the High Court or the Supreme Court nor respond to it.
Both proposals state that responding to a court notice will mean that the judiciary can further monitor the legislature and this would be against the basic structure of the constitution. In both houses of Maharashtra, the proposal was passed on the last day (Tuesday) of the two-day cold session. Assembly Speaker Nana Patole, declaring to pass it unanimously said that the speaker and deputy speaker Narhari Jirwal will not respond to any notice and summons issued by the Supreme Court.
On the other hand, Speaker Ramraje Naik Nimblekar in the Legislative Council also announced to pass the resolution unanimously. It also states that if Arnab Goswami challenges the privilege violation proceedings to the judiciary, the House will not respond to any notice and summons issued by the High Court or the Supreme Court.
Earlier, speaker Nana Patole said that the constitution has set certain limits for the three wings of the government – the judiciary, the legislature and the executive. Every organ should respect these limits. No one should try to interfere with each other’s boundaries.
At the same time, Nimbalkar said that if the legislature, the secretariat and its secretaries and other officers in public response to the court notice, it would mean that they are giving the judiciary the authority to monitor the legislature and that it is the constitution’s basic structure. Is a violation.
In both the houses, no opposition was registered on this proposal. However, BJP MLA Rahul Narvekar said that such a proposal would set a wrong precedent. With this proposal coming, Arnab’s problems in the privilege violation case are expected to increase. Please tell that Pratap Sarnaik of Shiv Sena gave this proposal against Arnab on 8 September.
He had alleged that Arnab Goswami consistently used offensive language against Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and NCP chief Sharad Pawar and made false statements. Sarnaik had said that during TV debates, Goswami constantly insults ministers and MPs. Arnab later went to the Supreme Court in the case, which on November 26 issued notice to the speaker of the assembly seeking a reply.