New Delhi: The Committee of Privileges of the Rajya Sabha met here Friday and discussed the pending complaints of breach of privilege against some MPs, including AAP leader Raghav Chadha.
Sources said the committee has sought a report from Chadha by November 7 and the members of the panel will meet again November 8 to discuss the issue.
They said during the meeting of the committee in the Parliament House annexe extension building, the panel members discussed all the pending cases.
“The committee has sought a report from Raghav Chaddha by November 7 as it is scheduled to meet again November 8,” one of the sources said.
The committee is looking into the pending cases of complaints of breach of privilege against MPs Raghav Chadha, Sanjay Singh and Derek O’Brien.
During the meeting, the members sought to secure an expeditious processing and finalisation of the committee report in the breach of privilege cases, the sources said.
The report will then be presented before the Council of States.
Incidentally, both Chadha and Singh are currently suspended from the House. Chadha is under suspension since August 11 after some MPs, most of them from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), accused him of adding their names to a motion without their consent. The motion had sought the constitution of a select committee to examine the contentious Delhi Services Bill.
The meeting of the panel came in the backdrop of Supreme Court observations in a case filed by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader.
The apex court has asked Chadha to tender an unconditional apology to Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar on the select committee issue and hoped that the latter would take a “sympathetic” view in the matter.
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra has asked Attorney General R Venkataramani to apprise it of the developments in the matter after the Diwali vacation.
The CJI has said the lawmaker will have to meet the Rajya Sabha chairman to tender an unconditional apology on the issue. The vice president, in turn, may take a sympathetic view of the entire matter and initiate further steps in this regard, the court has said.
Earlier, during the hearing on Chadha’s suspension, the court had observed that an indefinite suspension of an MP could have very serious repercussions for people’s rights to be represented by a person of their choice.
It had also asked whether the Committee of Privileges could order Chadha’s suspension from the Rajya Sabha for an unspecified duration.
PTI