The Opposition UDF boycotted Assembly proceedings on Monday in protest against chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan's refusal to ask for the resignation of education minister V Sivankutty.
Opposition leader V D Satheesan said that it would be immoral and unjust to allow Sivankutty to continue as minister after the Supreme Court had asked him to face judicial trial for his destructive behaviour in the Assembly on March 13, 2015. "It would not be good for Kerala to have it's education minister standing on trial in the Court for indecent behaviour," Satheesan said.
After the chief minister ruled out Sivankutty's resignation, the Opposition did not rush to the well of the House and forcibly attempt to disrupt proceedings as was usual for opposition of all hues. Instead they stood in front of their seats and raised high-pitched slogans demanding Sivankutty's resignation. After 15 minutes of disciplined slogan- shouting, the Opposition Leader told Speaker M B Ragesh that they were boycotting the day's proceedings and the members trooped out of the House.
The chief minister, while ruling out the resignation, said that the Supreme Court had not found any particular individual committing any wrong. "The Court has not taken any specific names either, " the chief minister said.
The chief minister then gave a larger reason for both requesting the courts to withdraw cases against the LDF MLAs and also for protecting Sivankutty. "We were only trying to preserve the privileges of legislators, " Pinarayi said. He said it was the first time in the country that an issue that took place inside the Assembly was dragged outside. "What happens in the Assembly should end in the Assembly, " Pinarayi said.
He gave a list of violent incidents that had taken place in various legislatures across the country from 1988 to 2021. In 1988, he said ruling and opposition members in the Tamil Nadu Assembly had attacked each other using mikes and mike stands and even slippers. In 1989, the very same Assembly saw even senior leaders Jayalalitha and K Karunanidhi being attacked. In 1997, Pinarayi said the worst ever violence in the country's Parliamentary history took place in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly. "Ambulances had to be called in to carry off wounded legislators, " Pinarayi said. In certain assemblies, members were slapped and slippers were thrown at speakers.
Pinarayi's point was, in none of these violent incidents cases were taken against legislators. The privileges of legislators were protected. "In Bihar, for instance, the violence was so intense that the police had to resort to laathicharge. However, cases were taken only against the police. Not a single case was registered against a legislator, " the chief minister said. "What happened here in Kerala (cases taken against MLAs for destroying public property) was unheard of, " he added.
He also said that it was not the first time in the country that a government had given a public prosecutor the sanction to request a Court to withdraw cases against MLAs. "The government was only trying to protect the privileges of MLAs, " Pinarayi said.
He also reminded the opposition of instances when former UDF governments had arbitrarily withdrawn even corruption cases. "When Oommen Chandy was chief minister he had withdrawn the palmolein import case that according to the CAG had caused losses to the tune of crores saying he was convinced that no wrong had been committed, " Pinarayi said. Further, he said former home minister Ramesh Chennithala had granted no objection certificate to withdraw 5607 criminal and 12 vigilance cases.
What's more, Pinarayi said the MLAs, including Sivankutty, were suspended by the then Speaker. "They had already been punished. To punish them a second time for the same crime is wrong, " Pinarayi said.
Opposition Leader V D Satheesan said an MLA has privilege only for what he speaks in the Assembly as part of House proceedings. "It is not for any offences committed. Destroying public property is an offence, not a privilege," he said.
