Presiding officer rebuked over political comments

Assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar on Friday reprimanded Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLA Chetan Tupe for levelling accusations against opposition members in the Vidhan Sabha on Thursday, while he was presiding over the proceedings.

- Faisal Malik

Narwekar said it was the responsibility of the presiding officer to maintain the letter and spirit of law and not differentiate between the treasury and opposition benches.

While Tupe’s remarks were the first instance in recent history when a person occupying the assembly Speaker's chair had made political allegations, he was not allowed to preside over the proceedings for the entire day on Friday. Narwekar also assured the house that the Speaker’s chair would never be used for making political comments henceforth.