Speaker ignores Opposition din, forms panel

BANGALORE: Amidst opposition from the Congress and JD(S), Assembly Speaker K G Bopaiah on Thursday constituted the house committee to probe into the sleazy-clip episode involving three former ministers - Lakshman Savadi, C C Patil and Krishna Palemar. The seven-member committee will be headed by Gadag BJP MLA Shrishailappa Bidarur.The other members are: Sureshgowda, S R Vishwanath and Nehru Olekar (all BJP), Dr H C Mahadevappa, Amaregowda Bayyapur (all Congress) and Dinakar Shetty (JD(S)). The  committee will have to submit its report on or before March 13.Though the Opposition parties did stick to their decision to boycott the committee, Bopaiah went ahead and constituted it using his inherent powers. “The decision to set up the committee was taken after consulting all parties. Now if they (Congress and JD(S)) are not willing to be part of it, it is upto them. I will go ahead and name the committee,” Bopaiah had said     in the morning. When asked if the committee is duty-bound to submit its report before March 13, Bopaiah said: “It is a serious issue and cannot not be dragged.”Meanwhile, the tainted trio had replied to the show-cause notices served on them a day after they were caught watching and sharing the porn-clip in the Assembly. The content of their reply, however, is not known.“Their reply is now part of Assembly proceedings and it cannot be disclosed till it is placed before the House.”