DMK Parliamentary Party leader T.R. Baalu on Thursday submitted a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, seeking the initiation of Contempt of Privilege proceedings against Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary K. Shanmugam for having allegedly treated MPs with contempt.
Mr. Baalu demanded “proceedings at the earliest so that it would ensure the privilege and honour of Members of Parliament and be a deterrent to the bureaucrats who have scant regard for the authority of Parliamentary democracy”.
Mr. Baalu said that when he went to meet Mr. Shanmugam along with other DMK MPs, including Dayanidhi Maran, Kalanidhi Veerasamy and Tamizhachi Thangapandian, to submit the one lakh petitions they had collected from those affected by the COVID-19 lockdown through a party initiative called 'Ondrinaivom Vaa', “the [manner in which the official] received us and treated us, to say the least, was nothing short of contempt and humiliation.”
“First of all, he did not give even a hint of recognition to the arrival of a senior delegation of Members of Parliament. He did not even have the courtesy of asking us to come [in] and [be] seated,” Mr. Baalu alleged.
He said that when the MPs' team sought a time frame for the initiation of action on the petition, the Chief Secretary curtly replied that he did not have sufficient staff for this purpose, and hence, could not say categorically when action would be taken.
“We got an unmistakable feeling of being unwelcome guests. We again made a request to Mr. Shanmugam. But in utter ignorance of how to behave with elected representatives, he yelled at us in a humiliating manner,” Mr. Baalu claimed.
Pointing out that the official had not expressed a word of regret, Mr. Baalu requested the Speaker to duly consider the matter and initiate proceedings of Contempt of Privilege.
Mr. Maran also submitted a similar petition.
