Power of the House to punish its Members for unethical conduct or contempts
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O Joy Singh
Contd from previous issue
(b) a person charged with breach of privilege is bound if so required by the Committee to take oath/affirmation and to depose before the Committee and answer any questions regarding the facts of the case;
(c) a person charged with breach of privilege is bound to answer questions even without taking an oath/affirmation, even though that person would not be required to answer any self- incriminatory questions;
(d) an averment in a written statement submitted to the Committee by a person charged with breach of privilege, expressing reasonable apprehension of the influence on the members of the Committee belonging to the ruling party of its openly declared antagonism towards the person involved would constitute a breach of privilege and contempt of the Committee;
WHEREAS the Sixth Lok Sabha by a Resolution adopted on 19th December, 1978 agreed with the above recommendations and findings of the Committee and on the basis thereof held Shrimati Indira Gandhi, Shri RK Dhawan and Shri D Sen guilty of breach of privilege of the House and inflicted on them the maximum penalty possible in violation of the Principle of Natural Justice,
CONSIDERING that
(a) the above findings are in total contravention of Parliamentary rules, precedents and conventions;
(b) they unduly extended the immunity enjoyed only by the officers of Parliament in the discharge of their duties to an indeterminate number of persons totally unconnected with Parliament and constrict and deny to persons charged with breach of privilege and contempt of the House inalienable rights and safeguards guaranteed by the Constitution;
(c) if the above findings are allowed to remain on record they would serve as standing instruments in the hands of any party in power for narrow, partisan political ends of calumny, harassment and public denigration by persecuting its opponents as actually happened in the case of Smt. Indira Gandhi;
(d) the above gross distortions were engineered in the unconscionable misuse of the majority in Parliament in the pursuit of :
(i) a pre-determined design to verify Smt. Indira Gandhi, deprive the electorate of Chikmagalur of its due representation in Parliament, stifle the authentic voice of National dissent from the floor of the House, thus the democratic process;
(ii) to denigrate and to imprison Smt Indira Gandhi;
(iii) to hand out in the guise of privilege proceedings, a finding from the Parliament against Smt Indira Gandhi so that the same may hang as a compulsive pull over the criminal courts in the then impending trial against Smt Gandhi and others on charges based on the same allegations; and
(e) the said proceedings of the Committee and the decision of the House were wrong and erroneous and with a view to correct this distortion and establish correct conventions and precedents for future Parliamentary procedures.
NOW THEREFORE this House resolves and declares that :
(a) the said proceedings of the Committee and the House shall not constitute a precedent in the law of parliamentary privileges;
(b) the findings of the Committee and the decision of the House are inconsistent with and violative of the well-accepted principles of the law of Parliamentary privilege and the basic safeguards assured to all and enshrined in the Constitution; and
(c) Smt Indira Gandhi, Shri RK Dhawan and Shri D Sen were innocent of the charges leveled against them.
AND ACCORDINGLY this House : rescinds the resolution adopted by the Sixth Lok Sabha on the 19th December, 1978.”
In the history of expulsion of member from Rajya Sabha for the first time, most famously, Shri Subramanian Swamy, a Jan Sangh leader, was expelled from the Rajya Sabha in 1976 for his derogatory remarks and conduct by adopting a resolution on November 15, 1976 in the House of Rajya Sabha, which reads as follows:
‘This House, having considered the report of the Committee appointed in pursuance of the Motion adopted by it at its sitting held on September 2, 1976, to investigate the conduct and activities of Shri Subramanian Swamy, Member, Rajya Sabha, accepts the findings of the Committee that the conduct of Shri Swamy is derogatory to the dignity of the House and its members, and inconsistent with the standards which the House expects from its members and resolves that Shri Subramanian Swamy be expelled from the House.’
Previously of its motion adopted on November 15, 1976, a motion regarding appointment of an adhoc Committee consisting of ten members - (1) Shri Godey Murahari, Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha as Chairman, (2) Shri Kamlapati Tripathi, (3) Shri AR Antulay, (4) Shri NK Bhatt, (5) Shri CK Daphtary, (6) Shri Bhupesh Gupta, (7) Shri Suresh Narain Mulla, (8) Shri Bhanu Pratap Singh, (9) Shri DP Singh, and (10) Shri Om Mehta to investigate into the conduct and activities of Shri Subramanian Swamy was moved and adopted in the House on September 2, 1976.
The charges made against Shri Subramanian Swamy were that he had been engaging himself during the past one year and more in activities which are wholly inconsistent with the standards of conduct as expected of a Member of Parliament and carried on since January last in a virulent and systematic anti- India campaign in countries abroad. (To be contd)
Contd from previous issue
(b) a person charged with breach of privilege is bound if so required by the Committee to take oath/affirmation and to depose before the Committee and answer any questions regarding the facts of the case;
(c) a person charged with breach of privilege is bound to answer questions even without taking an oath/affirmation, even though that person would not be required to answer any self- incriminatory questions;
(d) an averment in a written statement submitted to the Committee by a person charged with breach of privilege, expressing reasonable apprehension of the influence on the members of the Committee belonging to the ruling party of its openly declared antagonism towards the person involved would constitute a breach of privilege and contempt of the Committee;
WHEREAS the Sixth Lok Sabha by a Resolution adopted on 19th December, 1978 agreed with the above recommendations and findings of the Committee and on the basis thereof held Shrimati Indira Gandhi, Shri RK Dhawan and Shri D Sen guilty of breach of privilege of the House and inflicted on them the maximum penalty possible in violation of the Principle of Natural Justice,
CONSIDERING that
(a) the above findings are in total contravention of Parliamentary rules, precedents and conventions;
(b) they unduly extended the immunity enjoyed only by the officers of Parliament in the discharge of their duties to an indeterminate number of persons totally unconnected with Parliament and constrict and deny to persons charged with breach of privilege and contempt of the House inalienable rights and safeguards guaranteed by the Constitution;
(c) if the above findings are allowed to remain on record they would serve as standing instruments in the hands of any party in power for narrow, partisan political ends of calumny, harassment and public denigration by persecuting its opponents as actually happened in the case of Smt. Indira Gandhi;
(d) the above gross distortions were engineered in the unconscionable misuse of the majority in Parliament in the pursuit of :
(i) a pre-determined design to verify Smt. Indira Gandhi, deprive the electorate of Chikmagalur of its due representation in Parliament, stifle the authentic voice of National dissent from the floor of the House, thus the democratic process;
(ii) to denigrate and to imprison Smt Indira Gandhi;
(iii) to hand out in the guise of privilege proceedings, a finding from the Parliament against Smt Indira Gandhi so that the same may hang as a compulsive pull over the criminal courts in the then impending trial against Smt Gandhi and others on charges based on the same allegations; and
(e) the said proceedings of the Committee and the decision of the House were wrong and erroneous and with a view to correct this distortion and establish correct conventions and precedents for future Parliamentary procedures.
NOW THEREFORE this House resolves and declares that :
(a) the said proceedings of the Committee and the House shall not constitute a precedent in the law of parliamentary privileges;
(b) the findings of the Committee and the decision of the House are inconsistent with and violative of the well-accepted principles of the law of Parliamentary privilege and the basic safeguards assured to all and enshrined in the Constitution; and
(c) Smt Indira Gandhi, Shri RK Dhawan and Shri D Sen were innocent of the charges leveled against them.
AND ACCORDINGLY this House : rescinds the resolution adopted by the Sixth Lok Sabha on the 19th December, 1978.”
In the history of expulsion of member from Rajya Sabha for the first time, most famously, Shri Subramanian Swamy, a Jan Sangh leader, was expelled from the Rajya Sabha in 1976 for his derogatory remarks and conduct by adopting a resolution on November 15, 1976 in the House of Rajya Sabha, which reads as follows:
‘This House, having considered the report of the Committee appointed in pursuance of the Motion adopted by it at its sitting held on September 2, 1976, to investigate the conduct and activities of Shri Subramanian Swamy, Member, Rajya Sabha, accepts the findings of the Committee that the conduct of Shri Swamy is derogatory to the dignity of the House and its members, and inconsistent with the standards which the House expects from its members and resolves that Shri Subramanian Swamy be expelled from the House.’
Previously of its motion adopted on November 15, 1976, a motion regarding appointment of an adhoc Committee consisting of ten members - (1) Shri Godey Murahari, Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha as Chairman, (2) Shri Kamlapati Tripathi, (3) Shri AR Antulay, (4) Shri NK Bhatt, (5) Shri CK Daphtary, (6) Shri Bhupesh Gupta, (7) Shri Suresh Narain Mulla, (8) Shri Bhanu Pratap Singh, (9) Shri DP Singh, and (10) Shri Om Mehta to investigate into the conduct and activities of Shri Subramanian Swamy was moved and adopted in the House on September 2, 1976.
The charges made against Shri Subramanian Swamy were that he had been engaging himself during the past one year and more in activities which are wholly inconsistent with the standards of conduct as expected of a Member of Parliament and carried on since January last in a virulent and systematic anti- India campaign in countries abroad. (To be contd)