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Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee
lambasted the Election Commission (EC)
over s charge that he occupied an
“Office of Profit” and accused it of
“character assassination” and “trial
by insinuation” without providing any
proof. Chatterjee was in the eye of an
Opposition storm over the
censure of a former Secretary General,
refused to support or distance himself
from the controversy.
He denied having anything to do with
the censure move and said that it was
the Privileges Committee that doctored
a report and forced its acceptance
while refusing discussion in the
Business Advisory Committee (BAC).
However, he said that the BAC is not
the place to discuss this issue. He
also declined to say whether the
Privileges Committee should initiate
action against the television channel
which aired the interview.
It is not clear why Chatterjee is
reacting so violently to the EC ruling
which is only doing its job per the
Constitution. If he disagreed with the
EC, he always has the option of
arguing his case with the President or
in the Supreme Court like all
lawmakers do. It is not clear whether
Chatterjee is seeking special status
for himself or whether he is above
reproach. This is not the first time
that he is reacting so violently to
criticism—he also escalated
confrontation to irrational levels
over the “cash for query” scandal. |
