Srinagar, Sept 10: Speaker, Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly, Abdul Rahim Rather on Wednesday said neither the Assembly nor its Speaker has any role in approving or disapproving the detention of a legislator, including the case of Doda MLA Mehraj Malik.
Speaking to reporters, Rather said the Assembly’s approval or the Speaker’s consent was not linked to the imposition of the Public Safety Act on the MLA. “This is wrong. We have not endorsed it. We have no right to approve it or disapprove it,” he said.
The Speaker further said that the Assembly’s only responsibility is to inform members if a legislator is arrested. “Whenever a member is arrested, whoever arrests him has to inform the Assembly that your member has been arrested. As soon as we get that information in the Assembly, we have to convey it to other members. This is the only role we have,” he said.
Rather said the Assembly cannot intervene in matters related to law and order or financial disputes. “In the matter of money, in the matter of investing money, there is no role of the Speaker,” he said.
The Speaker added that action would be taken against those spreading false information. “A very swift action will be taken against him. That matter will reach you,” he said while referring to the social media post of MLA stating that the J&K Assembly endorsed the PSA of MLA Doda.
