Deputy Speaker N. Sakthan, who was in the chair in the Assembly on Wednesday, refused to allow Deputy Leader of the Opposition Kodiyeri Balakrishnan table two compact discs (CDs) on the table of the House as “evidence in the bar bribery case against Finance Minister K.M. Mani.”
For anything to be tabled in the House, it should be submitted to the Speaker beforehand and the Speaker should satisfy himself of the relevance of it being tabled in the House, Mr. Sakthan said. He said he had seen the video recordings in both the compact discs and they contained nothing that was beyond what had been repeatedly shown in some of the television channels. “They contain channel discussions and a hidden camera recording of a meeting of the association [of bar owners],” he said. He ruled that it could not constitute a record in the Assembly.
Mr. Balakrishnan argued that Section 65(b) of the Indian Penal Code permitted electronic recordings such as the CDs as evidence. He said it was on the strength of this provision that certain television footages of a public speech were used against M.M. Mani of the CPI(M) for framing murder charges.
Forest Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan contended that Mr. Balakrishnan should present the CDs, if he considered them as evidence in a criminal case, to the police officer investigating the case and not before the Assembly. Industries Minister P.K. Kunhalikutty and Congress MLA K. Sivadasan Nair also pointed to the “irrelevance” of Mr. Balakrishnan’s argument.
