Friday's Ruling On Media Reporting Only For That Day: Odisha Assembly Speaker

Bhubaneswar: After a series of adjournments on Saturday due to protests by opposition members over Speaker Surjya Narayan Patro's ban on media from reporting ruckus in well of the Odisha Assembly, normalcy was restored in the House following an all-party meeting.

The opposition BJP and Congress demanded the withdrawal of Speakers ruling on the media reporting. As the opposition stuck to its demand, Patro adjourned the House at least eight times during the day.

The Speaker clarified his Friday's ruling on the ban after an all-party meeting.

"Under special circumstances yesterday, I had ruled certain matters should not be published in the media. The ruling was for that day only," Patro said in the House after the all-party meeting.

Patro also sought the cooperation of all members for the smooth functioning of the House.

The speaker in a ruling on Friday had directed both the print and electronic media not to report the ruckus inside the House and put a ban on using the name of members staging agitation, inviting strong criticism from the BJP and the Congress.

The members of both the opposition parties condemned the Speakers ruling and said it was "against the freedom of the press and was an anti-democratic norm."

The Speaker gave the Friday's ruling when Congress whip Taraprasad Bahinipati drew the attention of the Chair on the absence of officials in the Assembly officers gallery. As the debate on the motion of thanks to the Governor's address had started, it was mandatory for officers to remain present in the gallery. However, no such officer was there.

Bahinipati asked whether the Speaker had given permission to officers to remain absent in the House. As Patro did not pay any heed towards him, all the Congress members trooped into the well and demanded a ruling from the Speaker.

As the pandemonium continued, Patro in a ruling said that the happening in the well will not be reported in media.

Opposition BJP members, who were till then sitting in their seats, also rushed to well and strongly opposed the Speakers ruling leading to disruption of the proceedings all along Friday which also continued till evening of Saturday.

The matter was, however, resolved in the all-party meeting convened by the Speaker and attended by members of all the parties.

In his ruling on Saturday, the Speaker said on many occasions while discussion are going on in the House, the concerned officers are remaining absent in the official gallery.

"The concerned officers are directed to remain present in the officers' gallery while their department matters are discussed. The chief secretary is required to ensure the presence of concerned officers in the official gallery," Patro said.

Earlier in the day, Leader of Opposition Pradipta Kumar Naik of the BJP said that the speaker's ruling was "detrimental" to the democratic rights of the legislators, and demanded its immediate withdrawal.

Senior Congress MLA S S Saluja also expressed his concern and said, "The speaker's ruling is not acceptable in a democracy. If the MLAs don't protest in the Assembly where should they go? The lawmakers have democratic rights to protest in the Assembly."

Government chief whip Pramilla Mallick said, "The speaker's ruling is constitutional and as per the provisions being followed in the Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha and other state assemblies."

(PTI)