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| Lok Sabha Speaker's 'no action' ruling | | | NEW DELHI | MAR 20
Congress MP, MK Subha, is not out of danger, even as the Lok Sabha Speaker, Somnath Chatterjee, on Tuesday ruled 'no action' on an Opposition appeal, seeking his expulsion from the Lok Sabha in the wake of a controversy over his nationality. Chatterjee has virtually passed the buck on to the Supreme Court.
Reacting to the recent expose that casts doubts over the nationality of the MP from Tezpur constituency in Assam, the Speaker said that in this case, the Lok Sabha is not the authority to decide the matter. "I am convinced that it would not be appropriate to draw a parallel" between the Subba case and that of the 10 members expelled in the wake of the cash-for-query case, the Speaker said in a detailed ruling in Lok Sabha. A series of investigative reports by a television channel, CNN-IBN, had earlier showed how Subba had lied about his nationality, age, education and place of birth while filing nomination papers for elections at different times.
Somnath Chatterjee said: "Section 102 of the Constitution provides for disqualification if a member is not a citizen of India". But in this case, he said, the Lok Sabha is not the authority to decide the matter. The allegation against Subba has "no nexus" with his parliamentary duties. "In my opinion, the House has no jurisdiction to examine this matter. In view of this, I feel that no action is called for by the House or by the Presiding Officer in this matter", he said.
Chatterjee said that he has heard both MK Subba and VK Malhotra of the BJP, who had approached him on the nationality issue on the basis of the CNN-IBN report. The Speaker had also sought Subba's comments on the issue and had asked him to furnish documents of evidence. "Subba has tried to establish with the help of documents supplied by him that he is an Indian citizen. He has also referred to the judgement given by the Sikkim High Court in his favour on the same issue", Chatterjee said. The Speaker informed the House that Subba had sought permission from him to make a personal explanation in the House to clarify his position
Documents in the 12th Lok Sabha record his place of birth as Tezpur, Assam, and his date of birth as March 16, 1951. But his dossier for the current (14th) Lok Sabha shows his place of birth as Dabgram (Darjeeling) in West Bengal and the date of birth as March 16, 1958.
The Speaker said: “There are two questions connected to the matter: Is Subba an Indian national or not? And should Subba continue as a member of Lok Sabha or not?". Explaining his stand, the Speaker said that since the matter is sub-judice, “the answer to the second question depends on the answer to the first, which will be decided by the court.” “Depending on what the court says, the matter will be referred to the President who in consultation with the Election Commission will then decide on the membership of the member concerned”, the Speaker said.
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