Privileges Committee meeting of RS to be held in Parliament over Raghav Chadha's suspension

Raghav Chadha. File Pic

A Privileges Committee meeting of the Rajya Sabha will be held in Parliament on Monday to discuss the suspension matter of Aam Adami Party (AAP) MP Raghav Chadha, reported news agency ANI.

The meeting was scheduled to take place at 12:30 p.m. and is about to begin shortly, reported ANI.

Chadha was suspended from the Upper House on August 11 for "breach of privilege" during the Monsoon Session after complaints, reported ANI.

The MP was accused of not obtaining the consent of five Rajya Sabha MPs before including their names in a select committee, reported ANI.

He was suspended till the Privilege Committee submitted its findings on the allegation against him for forging the signatures of five MPs in a motion related to the Delhi Services Bill in the Rajya Sabha, reported ANI.

Chadha has called the suspension patently illegal and without the authority of the law, reported ANI.

His suspension followed a motion moved by Leader of the House Piyush Goyal, who sought action against the AAP leader for including the names of some members of the Upper House without their consent in a proposed select committee for the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2023.

Chadha moved to the top court, challenging his indefinite suspension from the Rajya Sabha.

However, the Supreme Court recently asked Chadha to meet Jagdeep Dhankhar and tender an unconditional apology in view of his suspension from the House.

A bench comprising Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra hoped that the chairperson would take a "sympathetic" view of the matter.

The bench recorded the statements of Chadha's lawyer that the MP has no intention to affect the dignity of the House of which he is a member and he will seek an appointment with the Rajya Sabha Chairperson so that he may place an unconditional apology, reported ANI.

Chadha was suspended for not obtaining the consent of five Rajya Sabha members before proposing their names for a Select Committee, reported ANI.

The bench asked the Attorney General for India, R. Venkataramani and Solicitor General, Tushar Mehta, to apprise it of the developments in the matter after the Diwali vacation, reported ANI.

Chadha's counsel told the bench that he is the youngest member of the House and he had no problem in tendering the apology, reported ANI.

Earlier, the Supreme Court expressed concern over Chadha's indefinite suspension and the impact it had on the people's right to representation while calling the exclusion of a member of the political opposition from the House a "serious matter", reported ANI.

It also questioned whether the Privileges Committee could issue such an order to indefinitely suspend an MP and said exclusion of a member of the political opposition from the House was a serious matter, reported ANI.

The bench had remarked, "Such a kind of indefinite suspension will have ramifications on the people whose constituency is going unrepresented? Where is the power of the privilege committee to indefinitely suspend the member?", reported ANI.

(With inputs from ANI)