Amid guv stand-off, MLAs to be sworn in by speaker today
Times of India | 23 July 2024
Kolkata: Amid the stand-off with governor CV Ananda Bose over the swearing-in of newly elected MLAs, the state assembly’s business advisory committee on Monday decided that the four would be administered oath of office by speaker Biman Banerjee at 1pm on Tuesday.
The decision came hours after Bose wrote to Sayantika Banerjee and Reyat Hossain Sarkar — who were similarly administered oath by speaker Banerjee on July 5 — reminding them of Article 193, which penalises MLAs who have not been administered oath by the governor or his representatives with a fine of Rs 500 every day they attend assembly.Bose’s letter also inquired whether the MLAs were sworn in by his authorised representative, deputy speaker Asish Banerjee.
Sayantika said: “Being an elected MLA, it was my legitimate right to take oath because I have responsibilities to the people of my constituency. The letter came to me from Raj Bhavan and I conveyed this to the appropriate authority. Now I am waiting to get instructions.”
Rule 5 of Chapter II of the rules of business of the assembly, which was cited to administer oaths to Banerjee and Sarkar, would be applied on Tuesday as well, sources said.
The MLAs — Supti Pandey, Mukutmani Adhikari, Krishna Kalyani and Madhuparna Thakur — were elected in the bypoll held on July 10. Parliamentary affairs minister Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay had written to the governor seeking a time for the swearing-in but was not given any. Raj Bhavan, instead, shot back some queries. Chattopadhyay said the speaker was well within his rights to administer oaths to MLAs at the start of a session.
Bose has sent a report to President Droupadi Murmu on the matter. The governor argues that if there is any legal conflict, a constitutional provision that allows him to administer oath should supersede other rules. He has also referred to several judicial orders on the primacy of the governor in certain legislative duties.