House panel to rein in unruly MLCs

PATNA: Remember the ugly scenes of violence inside and outside the Bihar Legislative Council last month and a woman MLC smashing the flower pots in the portico of the legislature building? The incident left injurious marks on the psyche of many. To council chairman Tara Kant Jha, it was nightmarish. "We don't have police to rein in the members, indulging in violent acts," regretted septuagenarian Jha on Monday.
"What is the remedy then? We have to evolve a mechanism to discipline the legislators," said Jha who has constituted a seven-member model code panel to look into complaints against erring MLCs and recommend suitable action. The panel will also counsel them on how to behave in public.
Jha said one MLC tried to hit him with an iron rod and one woman MLC smashed 22 pots which had flowers three to four years old. "I didn't commit such a sin to be hit by an iron rod," he said and added he had been thinking to have one such House panel for long and these ugly incidents expedited the process.
Though the panel, headed by senior-most member Arun Kumar of Congress, is yet to convene its first meeting, action against the two MLCs __ Sanjay Prasad and Jyoti __ is being mulled. "Action against them is under consideration for destroying public properties like microphones and flower pots," said committee member Bhim Singh.
Other members of the committee are Tanvir Hasan, Kedar Nath Pandey, Narendra Prasad Singh, Sanjay Kumar Singh and Rajendra Rai. A similar panel is functional in Parliament and it was at the recommendation of this panel that membership of those MPs was terminated whose names figured in the infamous cash-for-question episode.
The committee will formulate rules; inquire into charges of indiscipline and provide tips to the MLCs on how to behave inside and outside the House. Different sets of behaviour codes would be formulated for different occasions such as the address of the governor, official meetings, official tours and interactions with visiting delegations.
However, this committee will not be empowered to recommend termination of membership. It can only recommend condemnation or suspension for a fixed period.