House Committee report on NICE: Opposition parties stage dharna in Assembly

by news
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November 30, 2016

Bengaluru: The members of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Janata Dal (Secular) on Wednesday staged a dharna in the well of the House demanding Speaker B M Koliwad to table the House Committee report on the alleged violation of norms by the Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprises (NICE).

BJP, JD(S) members stage dharna in Assembly-1The Speaker wanted to take up the Question Hour as soon as the House paid condolences to the prominent personalities who passed away recently but Leader of Opposition Jagadish Shettar and Deputy Leader of Opposition R Ashok demanded the Speaker to table the House Committee report in the Assembly.

Cutting across party lines, senior members have extended their support to Jagadish Shettar and R Ashok. The members demanded the Speaker to table the House Committee report to avoid public doubt the integrity and sovereignty of the House. They demanded the Speaker to allow a detailed discussion on the House Committee report and wanted the government to initiate action against the NICE if found guilty.

At this juncture, Speaker Koliwad said that tabling the report, publishing the report and distributing the copies of the report was his discretion. “I have not signed any document without understanding the content of the document. I will not sign on any document if I do not have complete information about the document. It is my style of functioning,’’ Koliwad said.

The Speaker said that he would have to discuss with Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs T B Jayachandra, who is the chairman of the House Committee on the NICE, before taking a decision to table the House Committee report in the Assembly. “I will try to table the House Committee report tomorrow. I will allow a debate on the House Committee report,’’ the Speaker said.

However, the BJP members rushed into the well of the House questioning the objective of constituting the House Committee. JD(S) members also extended their support to the agitating BJP members. Intervening in the discussion, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had questioned the Opposition members for staging dharna despite Speaker’s assurance on allowing a debate on the House Committee on the NICE. A few members had expressed doubts over integrity of the government claiming that it was trying to create hurdles to table the House Committee report in the Assembly. “Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs T B Jayachandra is the chairman of the House Committee on the NICE. Minister Jayachandra has prepared the report. There is no need for us to create hurdles for the tabling of the House Committee report. Our government has no role in this issue,’’ the chief minister said.

Meanwhile, Jagadish Shettar said as per the reported prepared by Minister Jayachandra, there were irregularities in framework agreement by the NICE that is implementing Bengaluru-Mysuru Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC) project. “The duration of the House Committee has been expired. Attempts are being made to approach the Supreme Court for a stay. The government should not give a chance to them to obtain a stay on the House Committee report,’’ Shettar said.

The panel was set up in September 2014. It has met more than 50 times to probe alleged irregularities in implementation of the projct. The panel studied various Supreme Court and Karnataka High Court rulings on the issue of violation of the framework agreement by the NICE. MLA Ashok Kheny is the promoter of NICE.