Speaker accuses PKR MP of trying to be a hero after throwing him out of House

Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia (pic)  accused N. Surendran (PKR-Padang Serai) of trying to be a hero to the public by getting himself booted out from Parliament yesterday. .

The Speaker also questioned if Surendran stood to benefit financially by bringing up the custodial death of supervisor P. Karuna Nithi in Parliament.

"He has to tell the House whether he has any personal interest in this case. Maybe he wanted to look like a hero after he was ejected from the House for bringing this issue up. Maybe that was his agenda," said Pandikar Amin in a press conference today.

Surendran, who is also PKR vice-president, became the first Member of Parliament to be thrown out of the House during this current sitting for raising a petition to look into the death of Karuna at the Tampin police station in Negeri Sembilan.

Surendran had tried to explain that the raising of any petition is allowed in the Standing Orders but Pandikar Amin did not allow it and  instructed Surendran out of the House when the latter did not want to back down.

All this happened in front of Karuna's family members who were in the public gallery.

Pandikar Amin explained today that petitions are a form of appeal only allowed if all avenues have been exhausted.

In the case of Karuna, there is still room for redress in the form of an inquest, he said.

He also expressed his concerns over the large public turnout in the House, saying that it might lead to security issues.

“Parliament is a place to discuss problems of the people so there is no need to bring them here especially when it involves emotional issues," he said.

In an immediate reaction, Surendran refuted Pandikar Amin's accusations, stressing that he and other lawyers work on a pro-bono basis on Karuna's case.

"I am not trying to be a hero. I have been fighting against custodial deaths for years. It is a cause close to my heart," he said.

He said he raised Karuna's case as there must be some form of action against the perpetrators. He added that there is no point having an inquest when the post-mortem report on Karuna showed he sustained 49 injuries all over his body as a result of being beaten with a blunt object.

This, he said, is enough proof to prosecute the police officers who caused Karuna's death.

He also said Parliament is for the people, and is not an exclusive zone for "hoity-toity YBs".