CBI by constituting SIT over-rules Punjab Assembly resolution on Bargari probe, Speaker can take notice
Punjab Assembly Speaker can take suo motto notice of House contempt by CBI in
Bargari probe
Jagtar Singh
The decision of the CBI to
constitute special investigating team to probe the cases relating to sacrilege
of Guru Granth Sahib at Bargari and related incidents nullifies the unanimous
resolution adopted by the Punjab Assembly after a 7-hour debate on August 28,
2018 that was boycotted by the Akali Dal, the party that was in power when
these incidents rocked the state in 2015. Punjab withdrew the probe from the
CBI following this resolution.
The investigation to the CBI was handed over by the Akali
Dal government.
The CBI informed the special court at Mohali yesterday about
the decision to constitute the SIT saying the basis for handing over the probe
was the letter earlier written by Punjab Bureau of Investigation chief Prabodh
Kumar. This letter was written objecting to the closure report filed by the
central probe agency. It is significant that it is Prabodh Kumar who heads the
5-member SIT that was constituted by the Punjab government following the
resolution adopted by the Assembly. The CBI probe was supposed to have been
withdrawn following the letter written by the Punjab government to that effect
after constituting the 5-member SIT that is now non-functional due to sharp
differences among members.
Now the court would decide on this step taken by the CBI at
the next hearing on October 30 in view of the closure report filed earlier.
The CBI decision to constitute the SIT and that too on the basis of the letter
written by Punjab officer concerned is multidimensional.
Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Thursday reacted
strongly to the CBI decision saying, “They are obliged in law to hand over all the
papers to us so that, as desired by the Vidhan Sabha, our SIT can take things
in their own hand, and what they could not do in three years, the state police
may be able to do in a shorter period”.
His reaction is appropriate except the fact that he had earlier
justified the letter written by Prabodh Kumar on behalf of the government to
the CBI to continue with the probe as several aspects were involved.
He said in his interview that appeared in an English daily on
September 24, “Prabodh did the right thing. If he had not written to the CBI
and told them they have no business to file the closure report, the case would
have been over. He did the correct thing by writing to them”.
Here is from his same statement, “Even as the state government
formally contested, in court, the CBI’s decision to hand over the Bargari
investigation to a Special Investigation Team (SIT), the Chief Minister said
the CBI, clearly acting under pressure from the central government at the
behest of the Badals, was quite obviously trying to stop the probe from going
forward. The decision to hand over the case to a new SIT three months after it
had filed a closure report in court was a clear ploy to delay the probe and
stop the state government from taking over”.
And the CBI has justified its decision citing this very letter
written by Prabodh Kumar that the Chief Minister justified two days back. Then
where is the problem?
The second dimension is that of contempt of the Assembly as the
CBI has over-ruled the resolution adopted by the House to withdraw probe from
the CBI.
Rules 252 to 262 deal with
the issue of Privilege and the contempt falls under this section. Normally, the
notice has to be given to the Speaker raising the issue of contempt or
privilege.
However, Rule 262 can be interpreted to mean that the Speaker can
take suo motto notice. It states, “Notwithstanding anything contained in these
Rules, the Speaker may refer any question of privilege to the Committee of Privileges for
examination, investigation or report”.
The CBI decision to constitute SIT to probe Bargari probe is
contempt of the House of which the Speaker can take suo motto notice.
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