MLAs can’t inspect office: Bir Devinder

Chandigarh : Former Deputy Speaker Bir Devinder Singh has said that an MLA has no authority to seek any information directly from any officer or to inspect any office on his own.Speaking to The Tribune about information sought by Gurdaspur MLA Brindermeet Singh Pahra from the GM of the milk plant, he said that the legitimate route for an MLA was by asking a starred or non-starred question in the Assembly.
Besides, an MLA can give a short notice in the Vidhan Sabha to ask for information in a specified period and move a call attention motion to seek it immediately in an urgent matter. The legal right to inspect or examine the functioning of any public undertaking rests with the Vidhan Sabha’s Committee on Public Undertakings.
“The committee or a sub- committee appointed by it could inspect any office and examine the records and seek information from the officer(s) concerned,” said Bir Devinder Singh adding that even a member of the committee could not inspect any office alone. A former Secretary of the Vidhan Sabha said, “Propriety does not allow an MLA to seek information directly or to conduct a raid an office.” Only committees constituted by the Vidhan Sabha could do so but their jurisdiction was also fixed, he added.