Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar rejected on Wednesday a point of order raised by Opposition leader Mallikarjun Kharge against Union Minister and leader of the House Piyush Goyal for his speech in the House targeting Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. After verifying the documentary evidences submitted by Mr. Goyal, the Chairman said the BJP leader’s demand of apology on the “overseas statements made by a senior leader of Opposition” was “factually premised” and did not graduate to making ‘allegation of a defamatory or incriminatory nature’. The Opposition has questioned this ruling.
As soon as the House met at 2 p.m. after lunch, Congress members urged Mr. Dhankhar to allow Mr. Kharge to speak. Amid sloganeering by BJP members demanding an apology from Mr. Gandhi, Mr. Kharge alleged that the Centre was not allowing the Opposition to speak. He demanded that a Joint Parliamentary Committee must probe the Adani stock issue. Retorting to this, Mr. Goyal said the Opposition was raising baseless issues.
Later, Mr. Dhankhar read out his ruling on the notice of point of order given by Mr. Kharge on March 13 that there could be no discussion/reflections in the Rajya Sabha on or about a Member of the Lok Sabha. “While the Leader of the House Piyush Goyal did not name anyone, he severely impeached what he termed the overseas disparaging remarks by a senior leader of the Opposition tainting and tarnishing our Parliament,” the ruling said. “Constitutional ‘privilege’ of ‘freedom of expression’ and ‘immunity’ from any civil or criminal action to Members of Parliament, calls for a high degree of care, caution and accountability,” it added.
Mr. Dhankhar said: “After bestowing earnest consideration on this momentous aspect I am of the firm view that there can be no issue or individual beyond the purview of discussion in the Rajya Sabha and the same is exclusively subject to regulation by the House and the Chairman. The two precedents relied upon by the Leader of Opposition have no bearing on the issue being determined herein.”
He added amid thumping on the desk by BJP members: “Further the authenticated record made available by the Leader of House, Piyush Goyal, bears out that his demand of apology on the overseas statements made by a senior leader of Opposition is factually premised and does not graduate to making ‘allegation of a defamatory or incriminatory nature’. The documentation submitted by Leader of the House, as per directive, bears out his assertions imparted in Rajya Sabha on March 13, 2023, same being in consonance with fact situation.”
Rajya Sabha functioned for four minutes in the pre-lunch session. It was adjourned amidst protests from the Opposition Benches, renewing their demand for probe by a Joint Parliamentary Committee into the Adani-Hindenburg episode.
Earlier in the day, at the joint Opposition meeting it was decided that a delegation will meet President Droupadi Murmu. The President’s office according to sources, asked the Opposition to pare down the delegation to seven members, but the Opposition has rejected the condition and has asked the President’s office to allow for at least one representative from each party. The Opposition parties will also take out a flag march from Parliament till Vijay Chowk on Thursday, the last day of Budget Session of Parliament.
Meanwhile, Mr. Kharge said in a letter to Mr. Dankhar that Mr. Goyal, under the guise of referring to Mr. Gandhi as senior Opposition leader, took the liberty of making all kinds of critical remarks, insinuations and casting reflections on Mr. Gandhi. “As regards your ruling vis-a-vis my point of order with due humility, I must confess that I find it surprising. A simple reference to the content referred to by Piyush Goyal would have answered that question,” Mr. Kharge said in his letter.
