The Privileges Committee of Rajya Sabha has called for a meeting on Friday to review the pending complaints against House members., including the ones against suspended AAP MPs Sanjay Singh and Raghav Chadha and TMC member Derek O’Brien.
The meeting comes in the backdrop of the Supreme Court’s observations earlier in the week expressing concern about the indefinite suspension of parliamentarians, while hearing a petition from AAP leader Mr. Chadha.
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 TMC 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.
