New Delhi, March 11 Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi said on Wednesday that the government has created a constitutional vacuum by failing to elect a deputy speaker of the Lok Sabha.
He said that allowing a chairperson of a committee, nominated by the very speaker against whom a no-confidence motion was being moved, to preside over the House defeats the purpose of Article 96 of the Constitution.
Article 96 bars the speaker from presiding over proceedings concerning his own removal to preserve neutrality, Gogoi said.
He added that the constitution envisages only two presiding authorities under Article 93 – the speaker and the deputy speaker elected directly by the House.
"By failing to elect a deputy speaker, the government has created a constitutional vacuum. Now allowing a chairperson nominated by the very speaker under challenge to preside defeats the whole purpose of Article 96," he said in an X post.
Gogoi, the Congress deputy leader in the Lok Sabha, said that neutrality cannot be reduced to a procedural formality and that in a constitutional democracy, justice must not only be done, but also be seen to be done.
"If the speaker cannot be a judge in his own cause, he cannot also nominate a judge in his own cause," Gogoi said.
The Congress leader had on Tuesday initiated a debate in the Lok Sabha on the resolution to remove Birla from the speaker's post for his alleged bias towards the ruling party.
In his speech, Gogoi had accused Birla of partisan behaviour, making "baseless" allegations against women MPs of the opposition, and not allowing Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi to put forth "critical issues" before the House.
When the House took up the resolution for discussion on Tuesday, AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi raised a point of order questioning the decision to allow Jagdambika Pal to chair the proceedings, as he was appointed to the panel of chairpersons by Birla himself.
BJP's Nishikant Dubey countered the claim, citing constitutional provisions, law and House rules.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said Owaisi's claim was irrelevant as Pal was competent to preside over the Lok Sabha when the resolution was taken up.
Trinamool Congress MP Saugata Roy said Rijiju should move a motion to appoint a presiding officer specifically for the purpose.
Rejecting the claims, Pal put the notice to move the resolution to vote and asked at least 50 MPs to stand up in support.
Once the required number of members stood up, the notice was accepted. Congress MP Mohammad Jawed read out the resolution, which was also admitted for discussion.