Dhankhar, Oppn continue to spar in Rajya Sabha over notices under Rule 267

Chairman Jagdeep Dhankar said he had received six notices under Rule 267, but in spite of his ruling, none of the notices were in line with the rules.

NEW DELHI: Sparring over admitting notices under Rule 267 to take up issues of pressing concern after suspending business continued in the Rajya Sabha between the chairman and the opposition on Tuesday.

Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar conducts the proceedings of the House during the Winter Session of Parliament, on Tuesday. (ANI)

Chairman Jagdeep Dhankar said he had received six notices under Rule 267, but in spite of his ruling, none of the notices were in line with the rules.

“In one of the notices, professor Ram Gopal Yadav (of the Samajwadi Party) has done homework. It is good for the professor, but the professor has to get some guidance from the student. Professor has made reference diligently but, in the process, has committed two big errors,” he said.

The errors, Dhankhar said, were the notice was received at 4.46 pm on December 19 when the session was in progress and he had referred to the willing of the minister instead of the chair to take up the issue.

“This House will not transact any business with the permission of any member or a minister. The permission required is mine,” he said.

Trinamool Congress leader Derek O’Brien, however, argued that contrary to what Dhankhar had said the previous day, notices under Rule 267 had been admitted in the House by his predecessors. Quoting the rules, O’Brien said Shankar Dayal Sharma between 1990-92 accepted four Rule 267 notices, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat accepted three Rule 267 notices and Hamid Ansari accepted four notices.

Dhankar, however, chose to stick to his stand and said he would admit the notices only when he found merit in the demand. “I have started my tenure as chairman. It has been the track record of my very distinguished predecessors that during their entire tenure they did not get into double-digit intervention. I have enough time to take note of the gravity of the situation, and you can trust me, if there is an occasion to invoke Rule 267 everyday, I would not hesitate to invoke it, and if there is no occasion to invoke it even once during my entire tenure, I would not,” he said.