Sunday, July 31, 2011

Government will not fall without you: Court to Kalmadi


New Delhi:  Suresh Kalmadi received a terse response to his request to be allowed to attend Parliament next week. A Delhi High Court judge told the MP, currently in Tihar Jail, "There is no such important issue going to take place in Parliament that if you (Kalmadi) do not attend the session, then the government will fall."

Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw also said that Parliament proceedings are broadcast on television. Mr Kalmadi can send a written question to the house if he wishes to participate in a debate, the judge suggested.

Mr Kalmadi was arrested in April for corruption related to the Commonwealth Games, held in Delhi in September last year. His time in jail has not been quiet. Jail officials were transferred after Mr Kalmadi was spotted having tea and biscuits with them. And a series of medical tests have been conducted this week to determine if Mr Kalmadi suffers from dementia.

"My mind, my brain is all okay," said Mr Kalmadi. "Five years ago I had undergone an operation of the heart valve. Whatever the problem is, it is of the heart," the MP from Pune said.

Mr Kalmadi's recent record showed him as one of India's worst-performing MPs when it come to developing his constituency - he has so far used only 20 per cent of the two crores allotted to each MP for their constituencies. So from Tihar Jail last week, Mr Kalmadi wrote to the District Collector of Pune urging him to sanction two crores for projects that include mobile toilets for women and a crematorium.

Mr Kalmadi has been asked to provide the court with records to show his attendance in Parliament in the last few years.

"The accused shall also file an affidavit containing information about the type of questions being asked during the Parliament session in last five years," said the judge.

The Home Ministry and the CBI have been asked to give their opinion on Mr Kalmadi's request on Monday.

"He has been a parliamentarian since 1982. It his right to attend the session," Mr Kalmadi's lawyer argued

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