The Opposition held a protest in Parliament accusing the government of weaponising parliamentary privilege. In this session, investigations were opened against five MPs — two from the Lok Sabha and three from the Rajya Sabha.
Leading the protest, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge alleged that the Constitution was being shredded to pieces as the BJP government, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in particular, did not want to run the Parliament according to the Constitution.
Talking to reporters in front of the statue of Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar, surrounded by other INDIA bloc members, Mr. Kharge said, “All rules and regulations were being set aside and the government was trying to threaten and intimidate every Opposition MP and even suspend them.” Referring to Congress’s Lok Sabha floor leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury’s suspension, Mr. Kharge said it was perhaps for the first time that a member was suspended and the matter was referred to the Privileges Committee afterwards. Mr. Chowdhury’s suspension, he said, was aimed at disabling him from participating in various parliamentary committees he is part of, including the Public Accounts Committee that he heads.
Not codified
Indian parliamentary privileges are not codified. The Constitution makers left it to the Parliament to decide it on case-to-case basis. Article 105, that deals with the subject, says, “the powers, privileges and immunities of each House of Parliament and of the members and the committees of each House shall be such as may from time to time be defined by Parliament by law.”
Trinamool Congress MP Derek O’ Brien, in a video message posted on social media, said, “Suspending members of Parliament, weaponising privilege motions to throttle every voice of dissent, Prime Minister Modi, listen to this carefully this assault on democracy will not deter INDIA, it will only strengthen.”
