Srinagar, Sep 28: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday moved a no-confidence motion seeking the removal of Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather, setting off a sharp procedural confrontation on the floor of the House.
BJP MLA R.S. Pathania formally informed the House soon after it met that the motion had been submitted against the Speaker and insisted that Rather could no longer preside over the proceedings while the motion was pending.
Citing Rule 215(2), Pathania said 23 MLAs had supported the motion and demanded that the Speaker step aside until the House decided the matter. “You cannot conduct the proceedings. Someone else will have to,” Pathania told Rather, referring to parliamentary precedents in which the presiding officer had stepped aside after a motion seeking his removal was moved.
Pathania maintained that the issue was not merely political but concerned the functioning of the House and the interpretation of the rules governing a motion against the Speaker.
Rather, however, rejected the demand for his immediate withdrawal from the Chair, saying the motion would have to be processed strictly according to the Assembly’s rules.
“You are a good lawyer. You can bring a motion. I have not seen it yet. If you read Rule 215, the procedure to be followed is laid down in the rules,” Rather said.
He maintained that the motion could be entered in the list of business only after the prescribed period. “A motion should be entered in the list of business, any day after 14 days of submission of the motion,” the Speaker said.
Pathania, however, pressed his contention that Rather should not continue to preside over the House once the no-confidence motion had been submitted.
“You cannot sit on the chair,” Pathania told the Speaker.
Rather countered that Pathania had not correctly interpreted the relevant provision.
“It is unfortunate that you didn’t read the rule properly,” Rather said, adding, “You are a practising lawyer. You should have read it properly.”
The Speaker further rejected the BJP’s reliance on parliamentary precedents, saying such precedents applied only after the House had granted leave for the motion.
“The precedent of Balram Jakhar and others is there, but after the leave was granted by the House. It does not apply here. This is final,” Rather said.
The exchange led to noisy scenes in the House, with BJP members raising slogans demanding that the Speaker vacate the Chair. But Rather continued with the proceedings, maintaining that the no-confidence motion would be dealt with through the procedure prescribed under the Assembly rules.
