Rajya Sabha panel to hold meeting, take up pending cases of privilege breach
Rajya Sabha’s privileges committee will hold meeting on Friday to review pending cases of breach of privilege against lawmakers, officials said.
The Rajya Sabha’s privileges committee will hold a meeting on Friday to review all pending cases of breach of privilege against lawmakers, officials aware of the matter said, two days after the Supreme Court said that an indefinite suspension of a member of Parliament, especially from the Opposition, was a matter of serious concern.
The complaints against suspended Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) lawmakers Raghav Chadha and Sanjay Singh, and Trinamool Congress (TMC) parliamentarian Derek O’Brien were pending before the panel and were likely to be taken up during the November 3 meeting, according to the officials cited above.
“The Rajya Sabha’s committee of privileges will meet on November 3 to review all pending cases to secure expeditious processing and finalisation of its report in breach of privilege cases for consideration of its recommendations by the states,” said an official, requesting anonymity.
In a notification, the Rajya Sabha secretariat confirmed that the meeting will take place on Friday but added that its agenda will be circulated later.
“The complaints against AAP MPs Raghav Chadha and Sanjay Singh, and TMC MP Derek O’Brien are before the committee. The upcoming meet of the committee holds significance against the backdrop of the recent Supreme Court observations while hearing Raghav Chadha’s petition against his suspension,” said the official quoted earlier.
Read Here: Supreme Court issues notice to Rajya Sabha secretariat over AAP MP Raghav Chadha's suspension
The 34-year-old AAP MP was suspended on August 11 during the monsoon session of Parliament over an alleged breach of privilege. Chadha was accused of not taking the consent of five Rajya Sabha MPs before including their names in a select committee for considering the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill 2023 that seeks to diminish the power of the elected AAP government in the Capital over services.
On a complaint by the five MPs alleging breach of privilege, the same was referred to the privileges committee and he was suspended till the committee submitted its final report.
Singh was suspended from the Upper House on July 24 for repeatedly “violating” the directives of the chair.At least three privilege notices are pending against Derek O’Brien.
Hearing Chadha’s plea against his suspension, the top court on Monday said that ousting an Opposition MP not only deprived the people of that constituency of representation in the House but also removes a voice distinct from the ruling party.
“He (Chadha) is a member of the Opposition and it’s important to have such voices in Parliament. We must be very careful about excluding members of the Opposition from Parliament. Exclusion of members of the Opposition from the House is a serious matter. He is representative of a voice which is different than the ruling party, and this is a serious concern for the constitutional court,” said a bench, led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud.