Parl Privileges Panel Revokes Suspension of 14 MPs of Both Houses Over Parl Security Breach Ruckus

All 14 members of Parliament across both houses, who were suspended in the winter session and were referred to the committee for privileges, will now be reinstated.

Top sources in the Rajya Sabha said that the recommendation to revoke the suspension of 11 MPs of the upper house came in Tuesday’s meeting of the committee chaired by Harivansh Narayan Singh, deputy chairman of the Rajya Sabha. Earlier this month, the Lok Sabha privileges committee had prepared a report to clear suspension of three MPs, which was adopted by the committee on Tuesday. The report will be sent to the Lok Sabha Speaker for his final approval.

The action came as MPs from the opposition in both houses were protesting, demanding Union home Minister Amit Shah or Prime Minister Narendra Modi should explain to the Parliament the cause of the security breach in December.

The suspended MPs have expressed unconditional apology for their behaviour on the floor of the house for which they were suspended. Some of the MPs argued that they had no intention to disturb the proceedings of the house, but they had no choice given the circumstances.

The case of these MPs has been dealt with in a manner similar to the previous cases, including that of Adhir Ranjan Chaudhary, who had faced suspension for calling Prime Minister names. The committees felt the moment the MPs expressed regret for their behaviour, the matter ended.

DURING THE WINTER SESSION

After the security breach in the Lok Sabha chamber on December 13, 2023, opposition MPs shouted slogans, came to the well of the house and even brought placards. Following the behaviour, the government moved a motion to get them suspended across days. Of the 146 suspended MPs from both houses, 11 from the Rajya Sabha and 3 from the Lok Sabha had their suspension referred to the privileges committee for being serial offenders. For the remaining MPs, the suspension ended with the winter session of Parliament.

The three Lok Sabha MPs — Dr K. Jayakumar, Abdul Khaleque and Vijayakumar alias Vijay Vasanth — will return to the Lok Sabha during the upcoming budget session of Parliament.

Among the reinstated Rajya Sabha MPs are Congress’s Jebi Mather Hisham, Dr. L. Hanumanthaiah, Neeraj Dangi, Rajmani Patel, Kumar Ketkar, G. C. Chandrashekhar; Left’s Binoy Viswam, Sandosh Kumar, Dr. John Brittas and A. A. Rahim; along with DMK’s M. Mohamed Abdulla.