Mah Council chairman rejects adjournment motion moved by Munde

Maharashtra Legislative Council Chairman Ramraje Naik-Nimbalkar today declined to admit the adjournment motion moved by the Leader of Opposition Dhananjay Munde over allegations of corruption against two ministers and a bureaucrat.
Arguing for admission of the motion against the two ministers--one from the BJP and another from the Shiv Sena--Munde (NCP) said they had sought to give illegal benefits to developers and yet the Chief Minister was not sacking them.
The chair, however, ruled the remarks made by Munde against the two ministers be expunged from the record and rejected the motion.
Citing the rules on moving the motion, the chair observed that before naming the ministers against whom charges are to be made, a prior notice should have been given. Moreover, the ministers concerned had every right to make a clarification on the charges made against them.

The chairman said Munde should have brought out how the motion merited admission.
He said there were two norms for the motion to be admitted---immediate emergency and its relation with the government.

The chair remarked the Opposition leader while moving the motion spoke everything else except admissibility of the motion.
As per norms of natural justice, the ministers have the right to give their clarification, Nimbalkar said.
He said the members were trying to set a wrong precedent by making allegations against the ministers without serving prior notice to them.
Munde argued he had merely named the concerned departments and did not take the names of the ministers.

However, the chair said the members were converting the debate on adjournment motions into that of calling attention notices.
Munde further said the ministers had made incorrect statements which were contrary to the noting on the files.
He demanded the chief minister ask the ministers to step down.
As the chair rejected the motion, the Opposition members rushed to the Well of the House demanding resignation of the ministers.
The Opposition then sought to once again raise allegations of corruption against the ministers.
The chair expunged all the remarks made against the ministers saying the rule of giving a prior notice to the concerned ministers was not followed.