Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala Assembly on Thursday rejected the resolution moved by the UDF's M Ummer seeking the removal of Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan from his post.
While the Assembly session is progress, opposition parties have demanded that the Speaker of the Assembly P Sreeramakrishnan be removed over his association with gold smuggling accused. He is the third Speaker in Kerala Assembly against whom the resolution seeking dismissal from office has been moved.
Moving the resolution, Ummer said the Speaker represented the honour of the house, but the serious allegations raised against him have dented the Assembly's reputation. He said the Speaker was facing serious allegations such as dollar smuggling and proximity to those accused in the sensational gold smuggling case.
The Speaker had admitted that he has connections with Swapna Suresh, the prime accused in gold smuggling case, he said. The Speaker's Assistant Private Secretary was questioned by the central agencies investagatinv the smuggling case and there were media reports that the Speaker would be questioned after the Assembly session is over, Ummer said.
The resolution was moved by Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) party MLA, M Ummer to remove state assembly Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI-(M)) is the ruling party whereas United Democratic Front (UDF) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are among the opposition parties.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan who was supporting the speaker pointed out that the members whose name has come out in the Gold smuggling case are only "accused". He said, "164 statements have been given by Gold Smuggling accused in court. For all these months, the investigation agency is questioning the accused. How can 164 statements given by such 'accused' be trusted?"
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