Speaker can act against porngate ministers, cops tell court

A case had been filed by advocate Dharmapal Gowda alleging that MLAs Lakshman Savadi and C C Patil, in their capacity as ministers, had watched porn on a mobile phone on February 7, 2012, while the Assembly was discussing farmers’ issues and that former minister Krishna Palemar had circulated the porn clip from his phone. 

All the three were accused of flouting rules under Information Technology Act (Cyber Crime) and the Indian Penal Code. The investigations had been handed over to the Vidhana Soudha police under Section 156 (3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

Though the matter had been posted to February 27 for further hearing, the police submitted the memo stating that under Article 194 of the Constitution, the members of the Assembly had certain privileges and rights and the Speaker was the right person to initiate any action against them.

While the police have not stated that criminal action inside the Assembly was outside their jurisdiction, they have not lodged a First Information Report and chosen to submit a memo to the court.

Meanwhile, the ex-ministers, who have been issued notices by Speaker K G Bopaiah, will submit their replies on Thursday.