NEW DELHI, Nov 1: The Privileges Committee of Rajya Sabha will deliberate on pending cases of complaints of breach against MPs Raghav Chadha, Sanjay Singh and Derek O’Brien during its meeting on Friday.
Sources said the meeting is being held to “secure expeditious processing and finalisation of the committee report in the breach of privilege cases for consideration of its recommendations by the Council of States”.
In a notification, the Rajya Sabha Secretariat said, “Members are informed that the next meeting of the Committee of Privileges will be held at 11 AM on Friday, November 3, 2023, in the Committee room no 4 in Parliament House annexe extension building.” The notification also said the agenda for the meeting would be circulated later.
The sources said complaints of breach of privilege of Parliament are pending against AAP MPs Chadha and Singh and TMC’s O’Brien, after Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar referred them to the Privileges Committee.
Incidently, both Chadha and Singh are currently suspended from the house. Chadha is under suspension since August 11 after some MPs, a majority from the ruling BJP, accused him of adding their names to a motion without their consent. The motion sought constitution of a select committee to examine the contentious Delhi Services Bill.
The panel meeting assumes significance as it comes in the backdrop of recent Supreme Court observations in the Chadha case. During the hearing on the suspension of Chadha, the court had observed that indefinite suspension of an MP could have very serious repercussions for people’s right to be represented by a person of their choice.
It also asked whether the Privileges Committee could order Chadha’s suspension from Rajya Sabha for an unspecified duration.
The top court said the exclusion of a member of the opposition from the House just because of a perspective which may not be consistent with the viewpoint of the government is a serious issue. (PTI)
