Vendetta? Meira Kumar sacks Lok Sabha TV CEO just before stepping down as Speaker
May 31, 2014
New Delhi: In a controversial decision taken on Friday, 30 May, outgoing Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar “limited” the tenure of the Chief Executive Officer of Lok Sabha Television (LSTV) Rajiv Mishra till 31 May. The Lok Sabha Secretariat issued a three-line notification to this effect on Friday. Mr Mishra has been left fuming and is considering ways in which he can challenge the decision.
“I have been told that Meira Kumar is upset with me as LSTV also flashed the news of her loss in the parliamentary elections from Sasaram,” he said. “This is ridiculous! I was praised by one and all for turning the channel into a profit venture and look what I have got?”
“I came to know of the decision late last night,” said Mr Mishra talking to the Political Indian. “This decision is totally wrong, unethical and immoral on her part. She is just a caretaker and the pro-tem Speaker will take charge on 4 June. She has just 48-hours in the office, and that too just as a caretaker. The 15th Lok Sabha, of which she was a member, has been dissolved and then she takes such a decision.”
Mr Mishra, who has worked with some of the leading media houses of India like Hindustan Times, Star TV and Zee TV, was selected by a six member expert committee headed by Javed Akhtar in late 2011. In total, 40 people had applied for the coveted post.
“I was selected by an expert panel after an 11-month long process and now being removed and not being given a notice period of even 11-hours,” said Mr Mishra. Lok Sabha TV posted profits after five years of inception in 2012; Mr Mishra is credited as being the man behind the turnaround of the channel from a loss making to a profitable venture.
The Speaker’s office
The Officer on Special Duty to the Speaker, KP Balyan, told us over phone that Rajiv Mishra’s term was slated to end on 31 May 2014 anyways. When PI told him that his extension letter did not mention any last date, he insisted that it was his last day in office.
The statement of the Speaker’s office and the notification issued on 30 May contradict each other. While the notification clearly says that Mr. Mishra’s tenure was being limited, the statement says that 31 May was his last day in office originally. In Mr Mishra’s extension letter there is no mention of a last date.
The expert view
Experts say that though the constitution doesn’t bar the outgoing Speaker from taking this decision, proprietary demands she should not take such decisions after the House is dissolved.
“There is no hurdle constitutionally in her taking any such decision, but normally such decisions are not taken,” said PDT Achary, former Lok Sabha secretary general. “It’s improper and wrong, though technically it’s not illegal.”
Mr Achary, who served in the Lok Sabha secretariat for 40 years, said that he has not seen any outgoing Speaker take such a decision during this period.
“Administrative decisions of such magnitude are taken only when there is something urgent and indispensable, there was nothing of that sort in this case,” he said. “The new Speaker would have taken a call.”
May 31, 2014
New Delhi: In a controversial decision taken on Friday, 30 May, outgoing Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar “limited” the tenure of the Chief Executive Officer of Lok Sabha Television (LSTV) Rajiv Mishra till 31 May. The Lok Sabha Secretariat issued a three-line notification to this effect on Friday. Mr Mishra has been left fuming and is considering ways in which he can challenge the decision.
“I have been told that Meira Kumar is upset with me as LSTV also flashed the news of her loss in the parliamentary elections from Sasaram,” he said. “This is ridiculous! I was praised by one and all for turning the channel into a profit venture and look what I have got?”
“I came to know of the decision late last night,” said Mr Mishra talking to the Political Indian. “This decision is totally wrong, unethical and immoral on her part. She is just a caretaker and the pro-tem Speaker will take charge on 4 June. She has just 48-hours in the office, and that too just as a caretaker. The 15th Lok Sabha, of which she was a member, has been dissolved and then she takes such a decision.”
“I was selected by an expert panel after an 11-month long process and now being removed and not being given a notice period of even 11-hours,” said Mr Mishra. Lok Sabha TV posted profits after five years of inception in 2012; Mr Mishra is credited as being the man behind the turnaround of the channel from a loss making to a profitable venture.
The Speaker’s office
The Officer on Special Duty to the Speaker, KP Balyan, told us over phone that Rajiv Mishra’s term was slated to end on 31 May 2014 anyways. When PI told him that his extension letter did not mention any last date, he insisted that it was his last day in office.
The statement of the Speaker’s office and the notification issued on 30 May contradict each other. While the notification clearly says that Mr. Mishra’s tenure was being limited, the statement says that 31 May was his last day in office originally. In Mr Mishra’s extension letter there is no mention of a last date.
The expert view
Experts say that though the constitution doesn’t bar the outgoing Speaker from taking this decision, proprietary demands she should not take such decisions after the House is dissolved.
“There is no hurdle constitutionally in her taking any such decision, but normally such decisions are not taken,” said PDT Achary, former Lok Sabha secretary general. “It’s improper and wrong, though technically it’s not illegal.”
Mr Achary, who served in the Lok Sabha secretariat for 40 years, said that he has not seen any outgoing Speaker take such a decision during this period.
“Administrative decisions of such magnitude are taken only when there is something urgent and indispensable, there was nothing of that sort in this case,” he said. “The new Speaker would have taken a call.”
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This story was first published in www.thepoliticalindian.com on May 31, 2014
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