New Delhi: Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla will not preside over the proceedings of the House until the issue relating to the notice seeking his removal is settled.

According to the sources, he is citing on moral grounds, he will not preside over the proceedings in Lok Sabha. The development comes after opposition parties submitted a notice to move a resolution for Birla’s removal, accusing him of not allowing opposition leader Rahul Gandhi and other members to speak during the Motion of Thanks to the President’s address and of suspending eight MPs.

Article 96 of the Constitution bars a Speaker or Deputy Speaker from presiding over House sittings while a resolution for their removal is under consideration. This provision allows the Speaker a constitutional right to defend himself in the House when the resolution is taken up for discussion.

Birla has directed Lok Sabha Secretary General Utpal Kumar Singh to examine the notice submitted by the opposition and take appropriate action in accordance with parliamentary rules, sources said.

Congress chief whip K Suresh submitted the notice on behalf of several opposition parties including the Congress, SP and the DMK, is backed by 106 MPs, crossing the minimum requirement of 100 signatures needed to move such a resolution. The TMC did not sign the notice and did not attend the INDIA bloc meeting where the decision was taken.

Opposition parties, led by the Congress, decided to move the resolution following a meeting chaired by Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge amid continuing disruptions in Parliament. The move comes after talks between Congress MPs and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju failed to resolve the deadlock over Gandhi being denied the opportunity to speak in the House.