The power conferred on the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly to expunge certain remarks from the proceedings of the House if she/he was of the opinion that they were defamatory, indecent, unparliamentary or undignified cannot be a reason to refuse live telecast or webcast, AIADMK chief whip S.P. Velumani has contended before the Madras High Court.
In a writ petition seeking a direction to the Assembly Secretary to telecast or webcast the entire proceedings without any censorship, the chief whip said the power to expunge certain remarks had been conferred on the Speaker only to ensure that they do not get published in newspapers and journals and not form part of the Legislative Assembly records.
“People should not know that certain remarks made in the legislative proceedings were never the rationale behind the Speaker’s power to expunge those remarks. Several other State legislatures telecast their proceedings live despite their Speakers having the same conundrum surrounding the power of expunging as well,” the petitioner’s affidavit read.
