Ruckus in House: Fix responsibility, restore esteem of MC in public eye, Mayor asks Kataria

Mayor Harpreet Kaur Babla has written a letter to Punjab Governor and UT Administrator Gulab Chand Kataria apprising him of the events that transpired during the MC General House meeting on September 30.

Alleging that four councillors of the opposition parties, including Senior Deputy Mayor Jasbir Singh Bunty and Deputy Mayor Taruna Mehta, indulged in gross misconduct, flagrant disruption and hooliganism, she demanded to fix the responsibility to demonstrate a commitment to procedural integrity and restore the esteem of the civic body in the public eye. She stated that the conduct of the four councillors — Prem Lata of AAP, and Jasbir Singh Bunty, Taruna Mehta and Sachin Galav of Congress — was nothing short of disgraceful, constituting a calculated and planned attempt to undermine the dignity and functioning of the democratic body.

Administrator can’t act against any councillor: Expert

A senior legal expert on the Municipal Act said the UT Administrator had no power under the law implemented in Chandigarh to take action against any councillor for an act done in a House meeting. The expert said the Mayor could file a complaint in court at personal level if she thought any councillor had misbehaved with her.

“Their disruptive actions commenced with a sustained and aggressive protest leading to unruly scenes that lasted several hours, stalling critical discussions on developmental agendas intended for the welfare of Chandigarh residents.

The four councillors escalated the protest into a disorderly conduct when they tore up official copies of House meeting minutes and physically threw the shredded papers onto the Mayor’s dais, MC officials assisting the chair and also into the well of the House. “Such an action is a direct and visible act of contempt against the chair, the institution and the official records of the MC,” she stated.

Babla said when the chair was compelled to suspend the four councillors and call for marshals to restore order, discipline and decorum, they engaged in an alarming display of resistance. The resultant scuffle and chaotic confrontation involving the marshals and the councillors, including pushing, brought shame to the House and eroded the dignity of the institution.

The situation was exacerbated by the Senior Deputy Mayor, who later tried to usurp the authority of the chair by holding a parallel meeting in the well of the House and assumed the role of Mayor while the session was adjourned, making a mockery of the democratic set-up and esteem of the institution.

“It is imperative that accountability is swiftly and firmly fixed to demonstrate a commitment to procedural integrity and to restore the esteem of the MC in the public eye,” she wrote. Babla urged the Administrator to take the strongest possible action to set a precedent that such a behaviour, which amounted to hooliganism within the sacred precincts of the General House, would not be excused and faith of the residents was restored in the democratic functioning of the civic body.