TELANGANA ASSEMBLY TO MEET AFTER DECEMBER 14

Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao on Sunday decided to convene Legislative Assembly and Council after December 14.

The State Legislature is being reconvened to follow a parliamentary convention of meeting legislatures having three sessions in a calendar year.

The Legislature had met on August 30 to pass the GST Bill. Earlier, the Telangana Legislature had met for 16 days in the Budget Session. Together, the Legislature had met for 17 days in the last 11 months.

Taking into account the last session of August 30, the Assembly need not be convened till January 30, 2017, as per the Constitutional requirement of not having six months gap between two sessions.

According to Article 174, “Six months shall not intervene between its last sitting in one session and the date appointed for its first sitting in the next session.”

In this backdrop, Speaker S. Madhusudana Chary and Legislature secretary S. Raja Sadaram are likely to cancel their London visit for attending the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association meet between December 13 to 20.

“If the Assembly was reconvened on December 22 in order to allow the Speaker to visit London, the house could not run for a minimum period of one week due to ensuing the Christmas holidays,” sources said.