A noisy uproar and walkouts by Opposition MLAs disrupted the Bihar Assembly on Monday as Press Council of India chairman Justice Markandeya Katju’s statements about press freedom being curtailed in the state came in for a heated debate and deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi suggested the PCI chief’s removal.
The Nitish Kumar-led NDA government faced an unenviable situation as the numerically weakened Opposition in both Houses of the state legislature, feeling vindicated by Justice Katju’s public opinions, sought the government’s response to allegations that it was restraining press freedom.
Holding placards and shouting slogans, the Opposition legislators, mainly from the RJD, condemned the manner in which several ministers had castigated Justice Katju for his opinions.
Matters became heated inside the Assembly as deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi, who had earlier mounted the strongest criticism on the PCI chief, stuck to his position and offered a sly suggestion for Justice Katju’s removal from the august national panel.
Mr Modi’s suggestion angered the Opposition, who described it as “unsavoury and undemocratic”.
“I think the Centre should consider whether it wants to continue having a person holding such a high position who has been always involved in making controversial remarks and is rather shrouded in controversies,” said Mr Modi even as chief minister Nitish Kumar continued to maintain his silence on the entire controversy.
When leader of Opposition Abdul Bari Siddiqui of the RJD protested Mr Modi’s comments against a “person holding such high constitutional post,” Mr Modi argued that the PCI was “not a constitutional body... It is just a vaidhanik (legislative) institution.”
The BJP leader then explained that he was against people in high positions making controversial comments and instances such as Justice Katju reportedly having gone “to the extent of talking about dismissal of Maharashtra government”.
Significantly, Mr Modi, while currently facing the Opposition’s ire, found few supporters among JD(U) ministers for his combative stance against the PCI chief. Most JD(U) ministers, when asked to comment on Mr Modi’s oblique demand for Justice Katju’s removal, simply said it was Modi’s personal opinion.