New Delhi: The Lok Sabha secretariat Wednesday issued a circular notifying the revocation of Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury’s suspension from the House.
This came after the Lok Sabha committee on privileges earlier in the day “unanimously” decided to urge Speaker Om Birla to revoke the suspension “with immediate effect”, after Choudhury told the panel that he did not intend to “insult or hurt” anyone.
The Congress MP Wednesday appeared before the committee in connection with the motion adopted by the Lok Sabha on 10 August leading to his suspension. The motion — citing his “disruptive” behaviour in the House — was moved by Union Minister Pralhad Joshi immediately after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s response to the Opposition’s no-confidence motion.
Joshi’s motion had accused Chowdhury of “repeated misconduct” and “disturbing” the House whenever the PM or any other minister speaks.
Chowdhury, who is the Congress’s floor leader in Lok Sabha, had earlier said that the suspension amounted to “tyranny of majority”, adding that he was ready to quit public life if the allegations against him were proved. The Congress had also termed the move as “undemocratic”.
On Wednesday, Chowdhury is learnt to have told the committee that he “did not intend to insult or hurt anyone through his remarks”, which he said were laced with various metaphors and allegories borrowed from the Bengali language.
“Adhir da said that these things often get lost in translation. He also pointed out that his remarks have already been expunged from the Lok Sabha records. The committee agreed and unanimously decided to recommend to Speaker Om Birla to revoke the suspension with immediate effect,” a committee member told ThePrint.
The motion to suspend Chowdhury was passed by a voice vote, leading to his suspension pending an investigation by the privileges committee. His remarks against the PM were expunged from House records.
“This House, having taken serious note of the gross, deliberate and repeated misconduct of Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury in utter disregard of the House and the authority of the Chair, resolves that the matter of the misconduct of Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury be referred to the to Committee of Privileges of the House for further investigation and report to the House and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury be suspended from service of the House till the committee submits its report,” the motion had stated.
Meanwhile, the matter concerning the suspensions of AAP MPs Sanjay Singh and Raghav Chadha remains pending before the Rajya Sabha committee on privileges, chaired by Deputy Chairman Harivansh, which is scheduled to meet on 1 September.
Chadha was suspended on the last day of the monsoon session over allegations that he included, without consent, the names of five MPs from across parties in a list of members of a proposed select committee constituted to examine the Delhi Services Bill. Singh was suspended on 24 July for “repeatedly” violating the directions of the chair.
This is an updated version of the report.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
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