New ethics committee in Karnataka Assembly: Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri

A first-of-its-kind ethics committee of the legislature is likely to be formed during the upcoming Monsoon Session, Assembly Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri said Wednesday.

The 10-day Monsoon Session is scheduled to start on September 13.

Briefing reporters, Kageri said that the Rules Committee had held discussions for the formation of the ethics committee. "The ethics committee will be formed after relevant sections are added to the rules of procedure and conduct of business in the Legislative Assembly," he said.

According to officials, a report containing details such as the mandate of the ethics committee will be tabled in the Assembly by the Speaker. Authorities were expecting the report to be tabled in the next session, provided the proposal is cleared by the Business Advisory Committee (BAC).

The 'Best Legislator' award will be handed over at the end of the session. "We have formed a committee to pick a legislator for the award. The committee will consist of Chief Minister, Leader of the Opposition and others," he said.

Also, the prohibition on the general public to attend the session will be lifted. The Speaker had barred the public from the visitors' gallery of the Assembly since the pandemic in 2020.

To a question on designated quarters for the Assembly Speaker, Legislative Council chairman and ministers, Kageri said that he was confident that Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai would address the long-pending issue.

On complaints by Public Accounts Committee that officials from Health & Family Welfare Department furnished wrong information during hearings, Kageri said that he would check provisions and initiate action.

18 Bills

A total of 18 Bills are lined up to be tabled in the upcoming session. Of them, 10 are new, four are to replace ordinances and four are pending in the Assembly.

Prominent Bills include the Karnataka Prevention of Dangerous Activities of Bootleggers, Drug Offenders, Gamblers, Goondas, Immoral Traffic Offenders, Slum-Grabbers and Video or Audio Pirates (Amendment) Bill 2021, to bring more offences including land-grabbing, under its ambit. Also, the Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Bill, 2021 will amend Section 276 CrPC 276 to introduce video conferencing as a mode to present witnesses. Other Bills deal with BWSSB, stamps and so on.

Om Birla's address

Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla will address both houses of the state legislature during the upcoming Monsoon Session on September 24. Assembly Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri said that the address will be on the second half of the last day of the session.

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