The Manipur Legislative Assembly is the exclusive domain of the Speaker and of course the house functions independently of the state government machinery. The legislature is one of the pillars of the Indian ‘democratic’ system besides the executive and the judiciary. The bills pertaining to the Raj Bhavan and the state assembly are always passed without discussion befitting the dignity of the Governor’s office and that of the state assembly. As the Speaker is the custodian of the house his writ is supreme. Yet one must remember that the said dignity and respect pertains to the office and not necessarily to individuals holding the dignified post when and if a question of misuse of the office comes up. One remembers the verbal spate between the Speaker and a senior Congress MLA on July 4 this year in the house, when the MLA persisted with the demand for clarification on the allegations of irregular appointment in the Assembly Secretariat. The Speaker had to expunge the Congress MLA’s remarks by invoking the rules of procedure of the house. The Speaker had ruled that the Congress MLA’s speech contained defamatory, indecent and undignified words. Despite the Speaker’s ruling, the scene and exchange of words between the Speaker and the said MLA including the subject matter was reported in the Imphal newspapers. And naturally, questions on whether the allegations were true or not became a matter of public curiousity. Then, the RTI questions came. As many of the questions were leading, we chose to wait for replies before publishing any report. But as the replies came, skeletons tumbled out of the cupboard leading to further questions. We all agree with the reply regarding the authority of appointment of officials and staff in the assembly secretariat. No approval of the state Finance department is required for making appointments and that no member of the state finance department is required in the recruitment/interview Board of the Manipur Legislative Assembly Secretariat for making appointments. All appointments are made under Rule (I) and 9 (2) of the Manipur Legislative Assembly. And this rule is the prerogative of the person holding the dignified post of the Speaker. There are few Speakers in the past who had not made appointments during their tenure in office. Many of the illustrious Speakers that we know have had made their share of appointments in the days gone by and most of the time the assembly secretariat is full to the brim. It does not matter, whether the officials or staff so appointed are regular or on contract basis. What matters is that, it has become almost a tradition and no one has the guts to question that till now. In the present controversy, questions have been raised on the appointment of a person named ‘Kumari’ Thokchom Nivedita Devi as the Under Secretary in the Assembly Secretariat on OBC quota. Thokchom Nivedita is the daughter of former MLA of Khundrakpam constituency Th Nabakumar and she is again married to Late Nabakumar’s adopted son and present Speaker Thokchom Lokeshore. Following the RTI reply, another question has come up as to how the daughter of an MLA who was married in 2008 to an MLA got an OBC certificate with the title ‘Kumari’ in 2011. She had married the present state Assembly Speaker Th Lokeshor on November 5, 2008. The OBC certificate issued to Nivedita Devi has also become a matter of controversy. Normally, the antecedents of the person applying for OBC certificate have to be investigated and confirmed by the issuing authority before issuing the same. Here, the issuing authority had chosen to overlook certain details like the name of the father and the husband. Why? Was the issuing authority told to look otherwise? Again, the present Speaker might not have been the Speaker when Thokchom Nivedita was appointed. But, he was certainly the Deputy Speaker at that particular point of time, a fact not mentioned in the rejoinder issued by the assembly secretariat. So, in the light of these facts and discrepancies an independent inquiry by either the Governor or the Parliament has become essential to clear the doubts and restore the dignity of the house. If possible, we would like a White Paper.
