tioner had given him a copy of the direction in the Parliament House.
After giving serious consid- eration to the evidence, the Speaker held that Dr San- gliana had been issued direc- tion to be present in the House to take part in the dis- cussion and to vote against the motion of confidence. Under paragraph 2 (1) (b) of the tenth schedule to the constitution of India, Dr San- gliana stood disqualified from continuing as a Member of the 14th Lok Sabha and his seat was declared vacant.
ANOTHER DISQUALIFICATION, A DIFFERENT MATTER Shri Avtar Singh Bhadana, MP, filed an appli- cation for the disqualification of Shri Kuldeep Singh,MP, on account of his having vol- untarily given up the mem- bership of his original politi- cal party i.e. Indian National Congress. Shri Badana had contended that Shri Singh was elected to the 14th Lok Sabha on the INC ticket and after his election as a Mem- ber, often dissented and bit- terly criticized the Congress government in his home state Haryana and the central gov- ernment headed by the INC. The respondent’s acts and conduct through public pos- tures, meetings and press conferences were of such a nature that set him at vari- ance from the programmes and policies of the original political party.
It was also contended that Shri Singh and others had formed a new political party by separating themselves from their parent political party to have personal gain, which was sufficient to con- clude that the respondent had voluntarily ceased to be a member of his original politi- cal party. A copy of the petition was also served to Shri Singh who submitted his reply on 7 March.
The Speaker thereafter
referred the petition to the Lok Sabha Privileges Com- mittee, which found that the
INDIA’S CIVIL NUCLEAR ENERGY INITIATIVE On 22 October, the Leader of the Lok Sabha and the Minister of External Affairs, Shri Pranab Mukherjee made a statement about recent developments regard- ing India’s civil nuclear energy initiative. He informed the House that the India-specific Safeguards Agreement with the IAEA was approved unan- imously by the IAEA Board of Governors on 1 August. The Nuclear Suppliers
Shri Avtar Singh Bhadana
respondent had not coun- tered the allegations made by the petitioner. The Speaker heard the petition on 2 September for which due notice was given to the parties for a personal hearing. Shri Singh did not appear in spite of due notice. After due consideration, the
Speaker was of the view that the respondent had voluntarily given up his membership of the INC to which he belonged at the time of his election to 14th Lok Sabha. Under para- graph 2(1)(a) of the tenth schedule, the respondent stood disqualified for continu- ing as a member of the 14th Lok Sabha and his seat was declared vacant.
MEMBER EXPELLED FOR MISCONDUCT
Shri Babubhai K. Katara, MP, Lok Sabha was found guilty of misconduct for misus- ing the facilities available to him by virtue of being an MP. The Committee also found him guilty of contempt of the Committee and thereby of the House by not appearing before it to give oral evidence. Consequently, the Committee recommended the expulsion of Shri Katara from the mem- bership of the 14th Lok Sabha, to which the Lok Sabha adopt- ed a motion on 21 October expelling him from the mem- bership of the House.
374 The Parliamentarian 2008/Issue Four
Group (NSG) adopted a deci- sion by consensus on 6 Sep- tember, which enables its members to engage in full civil nuclear cooperation with India, opening the door for India to resume civil nuclear cooperation with the interna- tional community to meet its energy and development requirements. The IAEA approval and the NSG decision provide India the passport which allows it to engage in civil nuclear cooper- ation with international part- ners. He said India was now in the process of getting visas by engaging with its international partners to negotiate and finalize bilateral cooperation agreements.
Shri Mukherjee said an
Agreement for Cooperation in Civil Nuclear Energy was signed with France on 30 September. The agreement
Shri Pranab Mukherjee
India and the U.S. on 10 October. The government hopes to sign a cooperation agreement with Russia in December 2008.The agreements that the government has signed with the U.S. and France and the one that will be signed with Russia provide cooperation in various aspects of nuclear fuel cycle.
The Minister emphasized that all these agreements are fully consistent with India's national interest, with the assurances given by the Prime Minister to Parliament and that government has made to the people of India. The government will honour its commitments and imple- ment these agreements in good faith and in accordance with the principles of interna- tional law and has no doubt that its partners will similarly discharge their commitments and obligations. The Minister reiterated that in achieving this result, the government has ensured that they only relate to co-opera- tion in civilian nuclear energy and that India’s strategic pro- gramme and indigenous research are not affected. The three stage indigenous
nuclear programme will con- tinue. The bilateral coopera- tion agreements that the gov- ernment has signed with the U.S. and France as well as the India-specific safeguards agreement include specific provisions which ensure that there will be no hindrance to the country’s strategic pro- gramme and that India retains the freedom to take action with regard to its strategic programme even as the gov- ernment engages in interna- tional cooperation in civil nuclear energy.
for cooperation on peaceful uses of nuclear energy (also known as the 123 Agree- ment) was signed between
Shri Mukherjee described the initiative as a historic contribution to India’s nation building effort, in respect of energy, sustainable develop- ment, technology, as it not only enhances the country’s