Lok Sabha Speaker asks members not to comment on ruling by Chair, maintain dignity of House

New Delhi [India], February 5 : Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Friday called upon the members to maintain decorum and refrain from passing comments pertaining to the Chair inside and outside the House.
His remarks came a day after Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra alleged that her speech was "cut short" towards the last part.
Birla said he had taken the recent incidents seriously and comments about the chair were against the dignity of the House.
"I urge you not to make any comment about the chair inside and outside the House. The dignity of this House is paramount which all the members respect. It is the effort of the Chair to remain impartial and conduct the House according to the rules and regulations," he said.
The Speaker said any comments by a lawmaker or others pertaining to the chair were inappropriate.
"The person sitting on the Chair has all the constitutional rights as a Chairperson. It is my request that any kind of comment should not be made either inside the Parliament or outside it. Neither Member of Parliament should do it, nor should any other person outside the Parliament. This is the dignity of our Parliamentary democracy. I hope that all of you will agree with it," he said.
"I have taken serious cognisance of the incidents that took place in the past few days," Birla said, adding that making comments to the media or in the social media were not at all inappropriate.
He also said that any member feeling aggrieved over a ruling can come to his chamber to convey his viewpoint.
"You are a member of this House, you may have some differences with the Chair. You can come to my Chamber and talk about it. I will listen to you," he said.
The Speaker also said that he allocates time to all members and strives to give them chance to raise their issues.
"Our previous chairpersons and members have worked to increase the dignity of the chair. India is the biggest democracy in the world. I hope the members would ponder upon this seriously," Birla said.
Members cutting across party lines assured their full cooperation to the Speaker.
"All of us have very good relations. All of us respect you. Whatever our demands are, we are able to communicate them to you. We will cooperate with you, sir," Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said.
TMC MP Sudip Bandopadhyay said that the "prestige" of the House should always be maintained. "And we should all remain committed to those principles."
Shiv Sena MP Arvind Sawant said that if the Chair is respected, only then the MPs will also be respected.
National Conference MP Farooq Abdullah apologised for "any mistake" that any member would have committed and said that it is the responsibility of all members to maintain the respect of the chair.
Moitra, who was taking part in the debate on the motion of thanks to the President's Address on Thursday had told the media that her speech had been "cut short". BJP MP Rama Devi was in the chair when Moitra was speaking.
Moitra also commented on it on social media and also on a suggestion that was given to her by the Chair.