Rule 267 of the Rajya Sabha rulebook, which allows for suspension of day’s business to debate the issue suggested by a Member, has become a bone of contention in the Upper House. Not a single notice under the rule moved by the Opposition has been accepted in the Winter Session that began on December 7. On Tuesday too six such notices were declined by Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar, prompting Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Derek O’Brien to point out the precedents.
Mr. O’Brien quoting Parliamentary records said that there were 11 instances between 1990 up till 2016 that this rule was invoked for various discussions. The last instance was in 2016 when then Chairman Hamid Ansari allowed for a debate on the “demonetisation of currency”. In this session, the Members have moved notices under the rule demanding debate on various issues, including the India-China stand-off.
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The TMC leader argued that Rajya Sabha rules were governed by precedence. On the question of precedence, Mr. Dhankhar had earlier said that his predecessor Venkaiah Naidu had not accepted a single notice under the rule during his six-year term. At the same time, he pointed out that the previous chairpersons have accepted the notices on this rule. Vice-President Shankar Dayal Sharma between 1990 to 1992 accepted four notices, Bharon Singh Shekhawat accepted three and Hamid Ansari four, he said. “I agree with you, it can’t be accepted every week. I agree with you, it cannot be accepted every month. But 267 is a living rule which can be accepted twice or three times every year,” Mr. O’Brien added.
Mr. Dhankhar commented that moving motions under “Rule 267” has become a known mechanism of causing disruption.
As per the statistics, the rule has been invoked 11 times since 1990 for various issues, including “Gulf War” in 1991 when Sharma was presiding, to debate “corruption” when Shekhawat was Chairman and under Mr. Hamid Ansari it was used four times to debate the “role of CBI in coalgate scam”, “attack on the secular fabric of the country”, “agrarian crisis” and “demonetisation of currency.
The Rajya Sabha rule book defines “Rule 267” under “suspension of rules” as an instance where “any Member, may, with the consent of the Chairman, move that any rule may be suspended in its application to a motion related to the business listed before the council of that day and if the motion is carried, the rule in question shall be suspended for the time-being.”
