In the midst of the controversy surrounding the inauguration of the new Parliament building, an attorney has filed a PIL with the Supreme Court requesting that it be inaugurated by President Draupadi Murmu instead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as is currently scheduled.
The Public Interest Litigation filed by C R Jaya Sukin asserted that the Lok Sabha Secretariat’s May 19 statement regarding the inauguration of the new building by PM Modi on May 28 and the invitations sent by the Lok Sabha Secretary General for this lacked due consideration.
President should open new Parliament building, not PM.
The petitioner cited Article 79 of the Constitution, which states that the Union shall have a Parliament consisting of the President and two houses called the Council of States and the House of the People, respectively.
He argued that, since the President has the authority to summon and prorogue Parliament and to dissolve the Lok Sabha, he should not be excluded from the inauguration of the new Parliament building.
The request comes at a time when 19 opposition parties have decided to boycott the inauguration, arguing that the President, not Prime Minister Modi, should preside over the ceremony.
