According to the advisory issued by the Lok Sabha Secretariat, "as per established convention, no literature, questionnaire, pamphlets, Press notes, leaflets or any matter printed or otherwise should be distributed without the prior permission of Hon'ble Speaker within the precincts of the House. Placards are also strictly prohibited inside the Parliament House Complex." Notably, this advisory comes in at a time when Opposition parties created a huge furore over the advisory on permission not been given to hold demonstrations and dharnas within the parliament complex.
The advisory notified to the members of Parliament, "members cannot use the precincts of the House for any demonstration, dharna strike, fast, or for the purpose of performing any religious ceremony." This development comes at a time when there have been several instances in the past when members of the Opposition had been seen holding placards from their seats also in the well and that had constantly drawn the ire of the 'Chairs' in both the Houses.
"Members cannot use the precincts of the House for any demonstration, dharna strike, fast, or for the purpose of performing any religious ceremony. Kind cooperation of members is solicited," the circular noted.
The move has come under scanner with several members of Parliament, including Congress Rajya Sabha MP Jairam Ramesh who took to Twitter to criticize this move. On the other hand, several documents have been put out in the public domain to show that this is not the first time such a circular has been brought out. "Many such circulars that were issued during the UPA regime are in the public domain. Of those one was brought out on December 2, 2013, and the second one on February 3, 2014," according to sources.
This comes following shortly after an uproar by the Opposition parties over the Lok Sabha Secretariat releasing a booklet with a list of the words and expressions that will be considered unparliamentary in both Houses of Parliament, ahead of the Monsoon Session beginning July 18. Some such words are 'corruption', 'corrupt', 'Jumlajeevi', 'tanashah', 'Dictator', 'black' and 'Khalistani' among others.
(With inputs from ANI)
