NEW DELHI: The government on Friday steered clear of the issue of granting permission to jailed MPs to attend the monsoon session of Parliament.
“Government has nothing to do with it. The issue of permission is between the concerned MP and the Lok Sabha Speaker or Chairman of the Rajya Sabha,” parliamentary affairs minister Pawan Kumar Bansal told reporters here.
His comments came close on the heels of Congress MP and sacked Commonwealth Games Organising Committee chief Suresh Kalmadi saying he will approach the Delhi high court for such permission.
Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar had recently said that Kalmadi would be able to attend Parliament only if a competent court allowed him to do so.
If allowed, Kalmadi won’t be the first MP to attend Parliament while in custody.
In the past, RJD MP Mohammad Shahabuddin and independent MP Pappu Yadav were convicted in separate cases for murder but were shifted from a Bihar jail to the Tihar Jail to participate in Parliament proceedings after securing permission from the courts.
Former telecom minister A Raja and his DMK colleague Kanimozhi are also lodged in Tihar jail. (PTI)
