Thiruvananthapuram: Speaker M B Rajesh has ruled that A Raja MLA who has been elected from Devikulam has to remit a fine for attending the assembly session for five days, as his oath was found illegal and had to be sworn in again.
The speaker ruled that Raja has to remit fine at a rate of Rs 500 per day for five days when he attended the session — May 24, 25, 28, 30 and June 1— as he had to be sworn in again on June 2, after finding that his oath on May 24 was not in accordance to the provisions laid out in the third schedule of the Constitution.
As per the Constitution, a member can either swear “in the name of god” or “solemnly affirm” while taking oath.
In the case of Raja, who had taken oath in Tamil, he had failed to take the oath in either of the ways laid out in the Constitution.
Opposition leader V D Satheesan had raised a point of order in this regard on June 2, and had said that in the past, there were two instances when the members had taken oath not in accordance with the Constitution.
He said that in 1960, former MLA R Sugathan and in 2001 by Umesh Challiyil, who had taken his oath in the name of Sri Narayana Guru.
Challiyil had lost his case in the Supreme Court and had to remit a hefty fine by way of returning his sitting fees in the assembly, Satheesan had pointed out.
However, the speaker on Monday ruled that Raja had made the error as there was a mistake in the statement of oath that was translated and served to him in Tamil from the law department.
The chair could seriously examine and take necessary action into how such a grave mistake happened.
The speaker also ruled, by referring to court verdicts in this regard, that the member’s vote during this period need not be declared invalid.
Raja had taken part in the speaker election and had cast his vote.