Rajya Sabha Privileges Committee to meet on Nov 3, review all pending cases to secure ‘expeditious processing, finalisation of report’

New Delhi [India]: The Privileges Committee of Rajya Sabha will meet on November 3 to review all pending cases to secure expeditious processing and finalisation of reports, sources said on Wednesday.

They said the meeting will review all pending cases so as “to secure expeditious processing and finalisation of its report” in breach of privilege cases for consideration of its recommendations by the Council of States.

The recommendations of the Privileges Committee are considered by the Rajya Sabha.
Cases of AAP MPs Raghav Chadha and Sanjay Singh and TMC’s Derek O’Brien are before the committee, the sources said.

They said that the upcoming meeting of the committee holds significance in the backdrop of recent Supreme Court observations in Raghav Chadha’s case.

The Supreme Court had on Monday expressed concern over the indefinite suspension of Raghav Chadha and its impact on the right of the people to be represented while calling the exclusion of a member of the political opposition from the house a “serious matter”.

A bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra also questioned whether the Privileges Committee could issue such an order to indefinitely suspend an MP.

The bench remarked, “Such kind of indefinite suspension will have ramifications for the people whose constituency is going unrepresented? Where is the power of the privilege committee to indefinitely suspend the member?”

The bench said the exclusion of a member of the political opposition from the House was a serious matter.

“Members should have verified the consent of the other members to be part of the select committee but is this a breach of privilege? The exclusion of members of the opposition from the House is a serious matter. He is a representative of a voice that is different from the ruling party and this is an important concern for the constitutional court. Indefinite suspension is a cause of concern and 75 days have gone,” the apex court said.

Raghav Chadha moved the top court to challenge his indefinite suspension from Rajya Sabha. He was suspended from the Upper House for “breach of privilege”. The MP was accused of not obtaining the consent of five Rajya Sabha MPs before including their names in a proposed select committee on the Delhi Services Bill in the Rajya Sabha. The bill was later passed by the House.

Chadha had called his suspension “patently illegal” and without the authority of the law.