Rajya Sabha Privilege Committee seeks response from Rajani Patil, other MPs

By Payal Mehta
New Delhi [India], February 27 : The Privilege Committee of the Rajya Sabha has sought a written response from suspended Congress MPs, Rajani Patil and the others who have been named for creating a ruckus in the Upper house of Parliament in the recently concluded first part of the Budget session.
The committee which is chaired by Deputy Rajya Sabha chairman Harivansh has ordered the same in its meeting on Monday.
"It is part of the procedure that those against whom the complaint is filed is given a chance to respond first before any further steps or action," a source told ANI.
A week or so ago this matter was referred to the panel by Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar.
Continuing the action against unruly MPs in the Rajya Sabha following the suspension of Rajani Patil for the entire Budget Session, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar had given his consent for the privilege committee to examine the conduct of 12 MPs from the opposition.
"Members are informed that the Chairman, Rajya Sabha has referred a question of the alleged breach of privilege arising out of gross disorderly conduct displayed by the Rajya Sabha MPs in violation of rules and etiquette of Rajya Saha by repeatedly entering the well of the Council, shouting slogans and persistently and wilfully obstructing the proceedings of the Council, compelling the Chair to repeatedly adjourn the sittings of the Council, under rule 203 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) to the committee of Privileges for examination, investigation and report," said a Rajya Sabha bulletin.
The names of the Rajya Sabha MPs include those from the Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in particular. These 12 MPs are Sanjay Singh, Shaktisinh Gohil, Sushil Kumar Gupta, Sandeep Kumar Pathak, Naranbhai J Rathwa, Syed Nasir Hussain, Kumar Ketkar, Imran Pratapgarhi, L Hanumanthaiah, Phulo Devi Netam, Jebi Mather Hisham and Ranjeet Ranjan.
In addition to this, there has been another privilege notice against AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh for repeatedly submitting a notice for suspension of the Zero Hour in Parliament to discuss the Adani stock issue. In fact, during the first part of the session, the Rajya Sabha chairman had pulled up Sanjay Singh for giving identical notices.
"Members are informed that the Chairman, Rajya Saba has referred a question of an alleged breach of privilege arising out of non-adherence to the directions of the Chair vis-a-vis repeated submission of identical notices under rule 267 by Sanjay Singh, Member, Rajya Sabha, under rule 203 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) to the Committee of Privileges for examination, investigation and report, the Rajya Sabha bulletin further elaborated.
With the opposition parties demanding a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to probe the Adani stock matter, the Upper House of Parliament witnessed a massive ruckus in the recently concluded first half of the session. Ruckus and sloganeering took place in the middle of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech for the Reply to the Motion of Thanks to the President address.
After repeated warnings to the opposition members, the Rajya Sabha chairman had suspended congress MP Rajani Patil for recording mobile videos of the ruckus.
After the recess, the second part of the Budget Session will resume on March 13 and will continue till April 6.