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Assembly Secretary on birthday bash in House lounge: Will apologise

On July 17, Legislative Assembly Secretariat staff organised a birthday celebration for Murthy in the Assembly lounge.

Bengaluru: Celebrating his birthday in the Legislative Assembly lounge recently has landed Assembly Secretary, S Murthy in trouble as it is against the rules. While the government has not pulled up the officer yet, the issue has caused ripples in the media with several television channels questioning the propriety of the staff holding the celebration in the lounge. It was on July 17 that the Legislative Assembly Secretariat staff organised a birthday celebration for Mr Murthy in the Assembly lounge. Besides BJP MLC , Tara Anuradha,, who was invited as she was in the building, it's claimed that some of Mr Murthy’s friends also attended.

However, under the rules, the Speaker's permission is mandatory to hold any function in the Assembly lounge when there is no session in progress. While small events like send- off functions for retired staff have taken place in the lounge in the past, birthday celebrations on this scale have never been held.
A video clipping of the event is said to have got into the hands of a faction in the Legislative Secretariat, which is against Mr Murthy as some of the staff have allegedly been targeted by departmental inquiries and suspended. Mr Murthy has also been slapped with a sexual and professional harassment case in the past. The cat was out of the bag after the video was leaked to the media.

When contacted, Mr Murthy admitted that it was a mistake to hold the celebration in the lounge and he would apologise as it was unintentional. “The office staff wished me on my birthday and asked me to join them for 10 minutes in the Assembly lounge. I had told them not to organise any programmes there. But as they persisted, I agreed. Usually, we give send- offs to our colleagues in the Assembly lounge. I will apologise for the mistake,'' he said. Mr Murthy, however, denied that his friends had attended the celebration too , pointing out that outsiders were not allowed into the Assembly lounge when there was no session in progress. “Besides, MLC Tara was also present,” he added.

( Source : Deccan Chronicle. )
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