Amid the impasse over Rahul Gandhi’s remarks on democracy, Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar on Wednesday rejected Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s ‘point of order’ that there cannot be a discussion on Gandhi, who was then a Lok Sabha MP, saying Provided that no issue or person can be beyond the scope of discussion in the Upper House.
The ruling BJP has sought a Congress leader since the resumption of the budget session of Parliament. Rahul Gandhi should come to the Rajya Sabha and apologize for his “democracy under threat” remarks made in the UK recently. However, the Congress has opposed this, saying that one who is not a Rajya Sabha MP cannot and should not be called to the House. There should be any discussion/contemplation on or about any MP of the Lok Sabha.
In his judgement, Dhankhar said that “certified records provided by Leader of the House Piyush Goyal show that his demand for an apology on foreign statements made by a senior leader of the opposition is factually based…”.
He gave his ruling on an objection raised through a point of order by Kharge, who is the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha. However, Dhankhar did not explicitly mention the BJP’s demand that Gandhi should come to the Rajya Sabha to apologise, nor did he indicate whether it was allowed.
“After careful consideration of this important aspect, I am of the firm opinion that no issue or person can be outside the purview of discussion in the Rajya Sabha and it is exclusively subject to regulation by the House and the Chairman,” he said. Ruled.
He dismissed the examples cited by Kharge, saying they had nothing to do with the issue.
He was responding to statements by Leader of the House and Union Minister Piyush Goyal on March 13, who sought an apology for “shamelessly attacking India’s democracy by a senior leader of the opposition in a foreign country”. . insulted the Parliament of India”, raised a point of order that no discussion/reflection can take place in the Rajya Sabha about a member of the Lok Sabha or a person who is not a member of the Rajya Sabha.
Though Goyal did not name anyone, he termed the foreign derogatory remarks made by a senior leader of the opposition to tarnish and taint our Parliament, a serious impeachment.
“The point of order relating to the debating/debating capacity of the Rajya Sabha, although Parliament is the most authentically representative and sacred forum in our democratic polity, could not be more important. Reflecting on this I know that we are the largest and mother of all democracies, and home to nearly one-sixth of humanity. Our Parliament is the sanctum of democracy.”
He then explained the immunity of MPs for statements in Parliament and the rules for making allegations of a defamatory or objectionable nature against an MP.
“The sanctity of the temple of democracy cannot be allowed to be desecrated as the privilege is limited to bringing down Parliament, making disparaging remarks tarnishing constitutional institutions or setting up narratives based on reckless allegations of shaky fact base,” he said. Not there.”
Stating that Goyal had substantiated his claim with the production of evidence of such a statement by Gandhi, Dhankhar said that any curtailment or qualification in the constitutional privilege of freedom of speech of a member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha was “serious”. will compromise and hinder flowering. of democratic values. ,
“The democratic ethos, well-nurtured and cherished parliamentary values lead me to lean in favor of upholding this constitutional right of a Member of Parliament to ‘freedom of expression’ which cannot face any obstruction and can only be exercised by the House and is subject to the knowledge of the Speaker.He said that the House is not bound to discuss any issue or person.
“Furthermore, certified records made available by Leader of the House Piyush Goyal show that his demand for an apology on foreign statements made by a senior Leader of the Opposition is factually based and amounts to making an ‘allegation of a derogatory or libelous nature’. Not graduating for.’,” she added.
“In view of the clear and firm constitutional prescriptions, I cannot persuade myself to uphold the point of order raised by the Leader of the Opposition, Mallikarjun Kharge, and the same has been disallowed.” A Surat court has sentenced him to one year imprisonment in a criminal defamation case.
Parliament has been stalled due to protests by opposition parties demanding a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into the Adani case and the BJP insisting on an apology from Rahul Gandhi.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)