``I have very high regard for the High Court, which has been recognised as one of the main pillars of the democracy. However, I feel an autonomous authority, independent of the High Court, should be set up for reviewing the orders passed by the presiding officers of the legislature,'' Nalawade told The Indian Express.

Nalawade has mooted two options for the purpose. Either the order passed by a presiding officer of the legislature be reviewed by the Speaker of the Lok Sabha or alternatively, a committee comprising three to four presiding officers of legislatures be set up to examine the verdict so that autonomy of the legislature is maintained.

``At a two day conference of the presiding officers convened by Lok Sabha speaker G M Balayogi in New Delhi recently, I made a specific mention of the orders passedby the presiding officers and their judicial review by the High Court. The judicial review of the order amounts to challenging the honesty and integrity of the presiding officer,'' Nalawade added.

Nalawade said, by and large, the orders passed by the presiding officers on split and merger of political parties have been challenged in the High Court.

``As per the original legislation passed by the Parliament, under Rule 7 of the Anti-Defection Act, the order passed by the presiding officer was not open for judicial review and as such, it was binding on the concerned legislators and political parties. However, since the Supreme Court has struck down the relevant provision, by and large, each and every order passed by the presiding officer is challenged before the high court. Now since the Supreme Court has passed the order, I feel a committee should be set to review the order passed by the speaker,'' Nalawade pointed out.

Nalawade, a veteran Shiv Sena leader, said at a juncture when we have recognised thelegislature, judiciary and executive as the main pillars of the democracy, it will be appropriate to set up an autonomous authority to review the order passed by the presiding officer.

Nalawade said the spirit with which splits and mergers were legalised in the Anti-Defection Act has been defeated owing to large scale misuse of the provision. ``During the debate in the Parliament on the legislation, splits and mergers in political parties were recommended for the formation of the government, which otherwise was difficult due to technical reasons,'' Nalawade added.

However, the Speaker noted with distress that the recent splits and mergers were against the spirit of legislation and smelt of corruption.

``The splinter groups have assumed more important political importance. The moment, they quit the party, they immediately get a Cabinet berth. I feel it is not a sign of healthy democracy,'' Nalawade added.

PMO denies talks
NEW DELHI: The Prime Minister's Office today denied that Prime MinisterAtal Bihari Vajpayee held secret negotiations with top leaders of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Issak-Muivah faction) during his recent foreign tour.

``To our knowledge, there was no such meeting,'' replied a PMO official, when asked whether reports appearing in a section of the press were true.