No Confrontation with Judiciary: Somnath

New Delhi, Dec 19 (UNI) Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee today clarified that he had never given any occasion for confrontation between the judiciary and Parliament because of his ''attitude''.

''The rights of the judiciary are clearly laid down in the Constitution and the judiciary has the absolute right to declare any law passed by Parliament as ultra vires of the Constitution,'' he said talking to mediapersons on conclusion of the Winter Session of the Lok Sabha.

The Speaker, however, said that in matters of Parliamentary privileges, Parliament was supreme and he had on no occasion found that the judiciary had interefered with its working.

Parliament too had shown respect towards the judiciary and that was the reason why the issues pending with the courts were not allowed to be discussed in the House, he said.

The Speaker also took exception to a report by the media which wrote about him having fired the first salvo against the judiciary in the wake of cash-for-query controversy, saying it was totally wrong.

On the issue of Women's Reservation Bill, Mr Chatterjee said, ''I will be very happy to see if the Women's Reservation Bill is passed during my tenure.'' Mr Chatterjee announced that a Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference would be held in Delhi some time in September 2007 where nearly 600 delegates were expected to participate.

Asked for his comment on the Standing Committee reports often rejected by the concerned Ministries, he said such reports were not mandatory to be accepted, but acknowledged the fact that 80 per cent of its recommendations were accepted. He said the Standing Committees were doing a great job in sharing the work of Parliament.

According to the Speaker, as many as 15 Bills were introduced and 20 Bills passed in the Winter Session of the Lok Sabha which was adjourned sine die today after having commenced on November 22.

The current Session had 20 sittings in all spread over about 117 hours and 27 minutes.

The House had fruitful discussions on six matters of urgent public importance. An adjournment motion regarding the failure of the Government to maintain internal security and to deal with terrorist menace was moved in the House, which was eventually negated.

Twelve matters were raised by way of calling attention while as many as 264 matters were raised under Rule 377. Thirty eight statements were made by the Ministers on various subjects.

UNI YS/KAS/BKS PK BD1927