Congress leader Bhakta Charan Das described the use of pepper spray inside the Lok Sabha as an insult to democracy and favoured screening of MPs before they enter Parliament. Samajwadi Party member Jaya Bachchan felt the issue of screening MPs needs to be discussed.
Former Lok Sabha Secretary General P.D.T. Achary said MPs were exempted from checking or frisking as Parliament belongs to them and they are the people’s representatives. In the 14th Lok Sabha, the security sub-committee did look into ways of inspecting MPs for prohibited items without physically intercepting them.
“A decision was taken to install a foolproof electronic system that could detect any type of objectionable item. Since such machines were not available then, the committee members were even asked to go overseas to scout the international market for such gadgets. But after that the issue was not discussed,” Mr. Achary said.
