She got to know about the incident after local TV channels started airing the clip of the MLA staring at his phone.
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Stating that the principle of natural justice shows that a person must be heard before he is hanged, Mishra said what has happened in the House was not proper.
The Opposition Congress and the BJP members, however, staged a walk out when the Speaker refused their request to reconsider the ruling.
Just because BJD has majority, it has resorted to dictatorial practise and took action on the basis of simply an allegation, Das added.
Defending him to be innocent, Naba Kishore Das said he had to use a different mobile phone on Monday because battery of the one phone frequently used was low. “The company has sent it and I did not choose it deliberately”, said the MLA. “I never watch porn. I scrolled down unwittingly when the TV camera shot me”. He said a conspiracy has been made to defame him and he would keep his point before the Speaker soon.
The members insisted upon a ruling and trooped into the well after the Speaker left the house and Deputy Speaker Sanand Marandi who was on the chair said the Speaker was examining the notice and requested the members to take their seats.
Congress leaders, however, sought to tiptoe around the issue.
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When the House reassembled, Leader of Opposition of Congress Narasingha Mishra said before taking any action against a member on the basis of allegation levelled by another lawmaker, there must be an inquiry and the accused legislator given an opportunity to present his position. It is a matter of shame for all of us, particularly the women members. “The rot seems to have gone too deep”. Months later, two BJP MLAs were caught doing the same inside the Gujarat Assembly.
