The Privileges Committee of Rajya Sabha that met on November 28 to deliberate on the pending complaints against Opposition MPs – AAP’s Sanjay Singh and Raghav Chadha, Trinamool’s Derek O’ Brien and Congress’s Jairam Ramesh – has decided to call them to present their defence in person, though according to sources, no date was fixed for their deposition. Mr. Singh is in judicial custody for over a month now after his arrest by Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with Delhi excise policy scam.
Mr. Singh was suspended in July indefinitely during a protest by the Opposition parties demanding a debate on Manipur. Mr. Chadha was suspended on August 11, the last day of the Monsoon Session for “gross violation of rule, misconduct, defiant attitude and contemptuous conduct”. A breach of privilege was filed against him by four Rajya Sabha members for proposing their names for a Select Committee without their consent in violation of rules.
Meanwhile, three privilege complaints moved by BJP MPs Biplab Kumar Deb, Dr. Anil Agarwal and Bhubaneswar Kalita against Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha floor leader O’Brien for “casting unsubstantiated reflections on high authorities” was admitted by the committee in October. Unlike the two AAP leaders, Mr. O’ Brien was not suspended.
A suspended MP cannot attend the House proceedings or participate in the meeting of Parliamentary Standing Committees.
