Maharashtra Legislature Forms Ethics Committee But Mandate Limited To Conduct During Official Tours

The state legislature has announced the formation of the much-awaited Ethics Committee to draft a code of conduct for legislators. However, the committee has been given a limited mandate to examine the conduct of legislators during official tours as members of legislative committees.

Dhule Cash Seizure and Vidhan Bhavan Clash Trigger Action

The formation of the nine-member committee, headed by BJP MLA Chainsukh Sancheti, comes in the wake of two major incidents.
The first involved the recovery of ₹1.84 crore in cash from a room in the Gulmohar Government Guest House in Dhule during a visit by the Estimates Committee.

In another shocking event, supporters of BJP MLA Gopichand Padalkar and NCP (SP) MLA Jitendra Awhad clashed physically inside the Vidhan Bhavan on July 17 during the Monsoon Session, prompting strong reactions. Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar called the incident “extremely serious” and damaging to the legislature’s reputation.

Committee’s Mandate Restricted to Conduct on Tours

While the controversies renewed calls for stronger ethical oversight, the committee’s mandate remains narrow.

According to Thursday’s order, the Ethics Committee will recommend standards of conduct specifically for legislators during committee tours. The legislature noted that the behaviour of elected representatives must be exemplary, given their responsibility in a democratic system.

However, the committee’s powers do not extend to addressing broader misconduct within the Vidhan Bhavan.

Committee Members Named

Along with Chairperson Chainsukh Sancheti, the members include MLAs Sudhir Mungantiwar and Vijaykumar Deshmukh (BJP), Deepak Kesarkar (Shiv Sena), Dilip Walse Patil (NCP), Sunil Prabhu (Shiv Sena-UBT), and Ameen Patel (Congress). MLCs Amrishbhai Patel (BJP) and Ramraje Naik Nimbalkar (NCP-SP) are also part of the panel.