The Supreme Court on Friday directed suspended Aam Aadmi Party MLA Raghav Chadha from Rajya Sabha to tender an unconditional apology to Rajya Sabha Speaker Jagdeep Dhankhar. The Supreme Court expressed hope that the RS Speaker would also consider the matter sympathetically. A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Mishra asked Attorney General R Venkataramani to apprise it of the developments in the case after the Diwali holidays.
The CJI said that the MP Chaddha will have to meet the Rajya Sabha Speaker to tender an unconditional apology on this issue. The Vice President may consider the entire matter sympathetically and take further steps in this regard. Chadha has been suspended since August 11. Raghav Chadha had added the names of BJP MPs to the proposal for constituting a select committee to examine the Delhi Services Bill in the Rajya Sabha without their consent and presented it before the proceedings of the House. This move by Raghav Chadha was opposed by BJP MPs, and later the Rajya Sabha Speaker suspended Raghav Chadha indefinitely.
It was alleged that the Rajya Sabha MP from Punjab had moved a motion to refer the Delhi Services Bill to a select committee. He had reportedly nominated some MPs as members of the proposed committee, and it was claimed that some MPs had not given their consent for it. Taking note of the complaint, the Chairman suspended Chadha pending the inquiry by the Privileges Committee. Meanwhile, a meeting of the Privileges Committee took place in the backdrop of the Supreme Court›s observations in a case filed by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Raghav Chadha.
In the meeting held on Friday, pending complaints of breach of privilege against some MPs, including Aam Aadmi Party leader Raghav Chadha, were discussed. According to information received by ‹Legal Speaking› from special sources, the privileges committee has sought a report from AAP MP Chadha by November 7, and the committee members will meet again on November 8 to discuss the issue. The committee is probing the pending cases of breach of privilege complaints against MPs Raghav Chadha, Sanjay Singh, and Derek O›Brien. According to sources, during the meeting held in the Parliament Annexe, the members demanded immediate action and finalization of the committee›s report in cases of breach of privilege.
Incidentally, both Raghav Chadha and Sanjay Singh are currently suspended from the House. Chadha has been suspended since August 11. The top court has asked Chadha to tender an unconditional apology to Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar on the selection committee issue and expressed hope that he will take a «sympathetic» stance in the matter.
