Citing the Theory of Separation of Powers, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Wednesday pointed out that neither the president nor the prime minister should inaugurate the new Parliament Building, instead the task should be left to the Speaker of the Lok Sabha Om Birla since it is in the domain of the Legislature and.

Owaisi said the AIMIM will participate in the official function only if Om Birla is allowed to inaugurate it.

“I am opposing the inauguration of the new Parliament building by the prime minister because this is a gross violation of the Theory of Separation of Powers. This would be an instance of the executive interfering in the domain of the Legislature,” said Owaisi, adding that this would be a precedent which will be followed in every state leading to the loss of independence of the Legislature.

Differing from the Opposition parties, Owaisi cited Article 53 (1) of the Constitution reading “The executive power of the Union shall be vested with the President” and said, “These people (Opposition) don’t study. This is why I am saying the Speaker is the custodian of Lok Sabha and I demand that the Prime Minister should back off. Your name is already on the foundation stone. Let Speaker Om Birla inaugurate the new building and give a message to the entire nation that you go by the Theory of Separation of Powers, the Constitution and its basic structure.”

He further said that the Opposition parties did not contact him since they consider him to be a “political untouchable”. It may be pointed out that Owaisi’s ally the BRS is also not part of the 19 Opposition parties but is likely to skip the programme too.

He added that undoubtedly there was a need for a new Parliament Building since the old building was unsafe and a fire hazard.

Asked about the historic sceptre – the Sengol which will be installed in the Parliament, Owaisi said India has no official religion and pointed out that the historic manuscript of the Constitution, illustrated by Nandalal Bose not only contained illustrations of Ram-Sita, Gautam Buddha but also of Akbar and even Tipu Sultan and it is still there in the Parliament library.

He also said that bringing the Ordinance on Delhi Services after the Supreme Court’s ruling was ethically wrong but slammed the AAP reminding the party that it had supported the abolition of the Article 370 which robbed Jammu and Kashmir of its statehood.