Rajya Sabha Chairman Refers Breach Of Privilege Notices Against TMC's Derek O'Brien, AAP's Raghav Chadha To Privileges Panel

Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar has referred complaints regarding the breach of the privilege of the House against Trinamool Congress' Derek O'Brien and Aam Aadmi Party's Raghav Chadha to the privileges committee for further examination.

The complaint against O'Brien was filed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members Laxmikant Bajpayee and Surendra Singh Nagar, while the complaint against Chadha was filed by Sushil Kumar Modi and Deepak Prakash, according to the Rajya Sabha secretariat.

"On consideration of the facts, the Hon'ble Chairman, Rajya Sabha has referred the matter under Rule 203 of Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) to the Committee of Privileges for examination, investigation and report," according to a bulletin issued by the Rajya Sabha secretariat late on Thursday night, reports news agency ANI.

The notice against O'Brien was filed for repeatedly publishing clippings of his statement made in the House on 20 July through his verified personal Twitter handle, despite the fact that those statements were expunged by the chairman.

The complaint against Chadha accuses, dated 25 July, accused him of intentionally and deliberately presenting "misleading facts" to the media on 24 July with respect to the suspension of "Sanjay Singh, Member, from the service of the Council for the remaining period of the 260th (Monsoon) session of Rajya Sabha for his indecorous behaviour and repeated violation of directions of the Chair".

"The members have also alleged that the comments made by Shri Raghav Chadha, Hon'ble Member, during the interview, wherein, he had inter-alia reportedly stated that Shri Sanjay Singh, Hon'ble Member, would continue to sit inside the Chamber despite being suspended from the service of the Council violates the provisions contained under Rule 256 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) and are an affront to the authority of the Chair and an act of breach of privilege," the notice said.

Another notice of alleged breach of privilege, jointly submitted by K Laxman and S Phangnon Konyak against Chadha, refers to a news coverage by a private television channel. It alleges that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader grossly misrepresented the proceedings of the House.

According to the bulletin, the matter has also been referred to the privileges committee by the Rajya Sabha Chairman.