Delhi Assembly Speaker Vijender Gupta on Monday ruled that any MLA who is suspended or marshalled out must vacate the Vidhan Sabha premises entirely.
The ruling comes in response to a dispute over whether the suspended legislators could remain in certain areas of the Assembly complex, such as the lawns and the office of the Leader of Opposition.
Leader of the Opposition Atishi contended that according to the rule book, these areas were not covered under the suspension rules, allowing the MLAs to protest inside the premises.
However, the Speaker cited Rule 277 to clarify that a suspension meant complete removal from the Assembly premises.
“From now on, any MLA who is suspended or marshalled out will have to leave the premises altogether,” he ruled, reinforcing the authority of the Speaker’s office in such matters.
A controversy erupted after 21 Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs, who were recently suspended over their protest against the alleged removal of B R Ambedkar’s portrait from the Chief Minister’s Office, were barred from entering the Assembly premises on February 27 and 28.
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The suspended MLAs had staged a protest inside the Assembly complex, holding Ambedkar’s portraits and raising slogans. The situation escalated when they were barred from demonstrating at the Mahatma Gandhi statue on the premises, prompting Atishi to call the move “unprecedented” and an attack on democratic traditions.
The BJP-led government, which recently won the Delhi Assembly elections with 48 out of 70 seats, has defended the suspensions.
It argued that the disruptions impeded important legislative discussions, including the tabling of a Comptroller and Auditor General report on the Delhi excise policy.
