Legislators create ruckus in Speaker's chambers over land bill

Legislative Assembly Speaker K B Koliwad had to face the wrath of a section of MLAs and MLCs on Friday over the delay in implementation of a land reforms related bill. 

The Karnataka legislature in March this year had passed Karnataka Land Reforms (Amendment) Bill, 2016, which  makes landless home dwellers the owners of land in new revenue villages. The bill is before the Department of Parliamentary Affairs and Legislation. The procedure is that once the bill is passed by the legislature, it goes to the governor for his assent. 

The legislature’s SC/ST Committee chairman K Shivamurthy Naik, members - B B Ningaiah, Shivaraj Tangadagi, D S Veeraiah, Pradeep Shettar among others staged a protest in front of the Speaker in his chambers in the Vidhana Soudha.

While some MLAs expressed their ire by hitting chairs, others raised their voice to find out  why the bill has not been forwarded to the governor. The Speaker was a mute witness to the sudden development, eyewitnesses said.

After the legislators calmed down, Koliwad told them that his responsibility is to send a bill passed by the legislature to the department concerned. It is left to the department to forward it to the governor. 

The legislators, dissatisfied with the reply, demanded that the officer concerned should give an explanation. They refused to leave Koliwada’s chambers. The Speaker summoned Department of Parliamentary Affairs and Legislation secretary Dwarkanath Babu. 

The officer explained that the governor cannot give his assent to the bill. Before giving ownership of houses to the occupants, land owners should be given compensation. Hence, the bill needs the assent of the President of India. The Advocate General’s (AG) opinion has been sought, he pointed out. 

This was not acceptable to the enraged MLAs and MLCs. They charged that the officer was misleading them. Land reforms comes under the state list. The governor himself would decide if the bill has to be forwarded to the President. The AG’s opinion should be sought before a bill is presented in the Assembly. The AG cannot be above the legislature, they argued.

It is said that they also claimed it was a ploy to ensure people do not get benefit under the law. Stringent action should be taken against the officer, they insisted. Later, Koliwad said the legislature session would resume from June 5. Prior to that, opinion regarding the bill should be available. Otherwise, action would taken against the officer, he cautioned.