Hooda objects to judicial probe into House proceedings against Congress leader

Leader of opposition and former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Monday objected to the proposed move to hand over assembly proceedings with regard to allegations made by deputy CM Dushyant Chautala on December 15 against former education minister Geeta Bhukkal of the Congress to a sitting judge of the Punjab and Haryana high court.

Dushyant had accused Bhukkal of sheltering Kartar Singh, the Jind school principal who was arrested recently for allegedly sexually exploited girl students, when she was the education minister. Hooda insisted that the terms of reference should include inquiring into the background and activities of the principal, and not the proceedings of the assembly.

Speaker Gian Chand Gupta said that the terms of reference of the inquiry will entail establishing the veracity of allegations and counter allegations.

Chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar said that the home department is writing to the high court in this regard.

Hooda told the Speaker that he should uphold the dignity of the House. Gupta said that the decision to request for an inquiry by a sitting high court judge was taken by the House. “Aisa tamasha mat karo (Don’t make a mockery of the issue). The Speaker can inquire, the state government can inquire. The assembly proceedings should not be subjected to the scrutiny of the high court,” Hooda said.

As the argument between the opposition members and the Speaker continued, Hooda said that the Congress could bring a privilege motion against Dushyant for making misleading and incorrect statements in the House.

Also read: Jind school sexual harassment case resonates in Haryana assembly winter session

Khattar told the House that the decision to get the matter inquired by a high court judge was taken by the assembly during its December 15 sitting and no one objected to it at that time. “The home department is writing to the high court. If the chief justice declines the request of the state government, then we can think of another option,” he said.

Bhukkal said that there should be an inquiry “but the House is over and above the high court”.

The matter came up for discussion during the zero hour on Monday on the second day of the winter session of the Haryana assembly.

Dushyant, Bhukkal in war of words

The sexual exploitation of girls by the principal of a school at Uchana in Jind district led to a war of words between Dushyant and Bhukkal on Friday, the opening day of the three-day session.

Dushyant, who is the JJP MLA from Uchana Kalan constituency in Jind, accused Bhukkal of sheltering the principal when she was the state education minister in 2011. Bhukkal responded by saying that the allegations were baseless and the deputy chief minister should either present evidence or apologise in the House.

Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) MLA Abhay Chautala intervened and sought a judicial probe after which chief minister Khattar also called for an inquiry to establish the veracity of the assertions made in the House. Speaker Gupta then assured the House that a written request on behalf of the assembly will be made to the high court for an investigation by a judge.