Imphal, February 09: Citing the rules of the Assembly, Speaker TN Haokip rejected the no confidence motion moved against him by the Opposition DPA, even as the two day long Winter session of the State Assembly wound up today.

The Opposition had submitted two no confidence motions against the Speaker on January 23 and 27.Reacting to the first motion submitted on January 23, the Speaker ruled that the motion has been rejected on grounds of non compliance with the Rules provided for the purpose.

To the second motion submitted against him, the Speaker ruled, "The entire provision of the RPCB does not contemplate two notices of Resolutions on the same ground and by the same Member signatories".

The first motion was signed by 20 DPA members while the second motion was signed by three DPA MLAs.

A notice to this effect was issued by the Assembly Secretary Th Chourajit Singh this evening.

Expectedly the ruling of the Speaker did not go down well with the Opposition DPA which immediately convened a press conference after the formal notice was issued by the Assembly Secretariat.

Speaking to newsmen at the Opposition lobby, MPP president and MLA O Joy said that the ruling of the Speaker was against Parliamentary practices and precedence.

Joy said the Opposition cannot remain silent and added that the ruling of the Speaker stands condemned by the DPA.

Touching a higher plane of thought, O Joy said that it is unethical for a person to be the judge of a case in which he/she stands accused.

Such practices are against the principals of national justice, observed the Opposition leader.

Joy went on to say that justice would be denied if a person like TN Haokip, whose name has been linked to a murderer, is to sit over the discussion of the murder case.

The rejection of the no trust motion moved against the Speaker goes against all democratic norms and practices, he added.

The Speaker has no authority to reject a no trust motion moved against him under rule number 307,clause 1 of the Manipur Legislative Assembly Rules of Procedure Conduct of Business, said O Joy.

The duty of the Speaker is to introduce the motion on the floor of the Assembly; he said and added that the question of granting leave or not to the motion can be taken only after the Assembly has discussed the matter thoroughly.

Citing past precedence Joy said that the Gauhati High court had in 2000 ruled that any no trust motion moved by members of the House cannot be rejected but should be discussed.

The Opposition DPA will visit the Governor tomorrow to highlight the rejection of the no trust motion moved against the Speaker, informed O Joy.

Reacting against the charges launched against the DPA by the Chief Minister in the wake of the damning 'revelations' purportedly made by James Kuki in the custody of the NSCN (IM), Joy too pains to point that whatever the DPA had said was on the basis of the 'confessions' made by the main accused in the killing of Lungnila Elizabeth.

The DPA has never said whether the confessions of James Kuki are true or not, he reminded.

Joy further denied the charges that the DPA had sought the help of the Chief Ministers of Nagaland and Mizoram to topple the SPF Government and added that Nephiu Rio and Zoramthanga are the best persons to react to the allegations raised by OIbobi.