Jharkhand speaker rejects no-trust notice against him

Ranchi, Mar 24 (UNI) Jharkhand Speaker Alamgir Alam today rejected a petition seeking to move a no-confidence motion against him saying that the allegations were ''baseless and unfounded''.

Saryu Rai (BJP) and six others from the Opposition last week sent the petition to Assembly Secretariat demanding removal of the Speaker.

In his ruling, the Speaker said the allegations held no merit.

Mr Alam asserted that all laid norms were followed in terms of appointment of Assembly Secretariat staff, adding other charges were also not corroborated by facts prompting him to drop the notice.

Former Speaker Inder Singh Namdhari said instead of rejecting the notice, the government should first allow discussion on the allegations.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Stephen Marandi said last Friday, he spoke to Opposition leader Arjun Munda and signatories of the notice and tried to organise a meeting with the Speaker but to no avail.

UNI PRS LL GL BD1815