NEW DELHI: While hearing a plea by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Raghav Chadha against his suspension from the Rajya Sabha, the Supreme Court on Monday remarked that suspending a Member of Parliament does have “serious repercussions” on the right of the electorate being represented by him.
A bench headed by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud and comprising justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra also noted that the allegations levelled against Chadha do not include fabrication or forging of signatures of the members who did not consent for inclusion of their names on the parliamentary panel.
The plea will be heard further on November 3.
In the previous hearing, the top court had issued notice on the issue. On October 16, senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, on behalf of Chadha, questioned the way his client was suspended, saying the suspension cannot extend beyond the particular session during which the decision to suspend the member was made. He also submitted that he was not seeking any interim relief at the moment.
According to the AAP leader’s plea, “The suspension is in clear breach of Rule 256 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Council of States, which incorporates a categorical prohibition against the suspension of any member for a period exceeding the remainder of the session”.
On August 11, Chadha was suspended from Rajya Sabha for “gross violation of rules, misconduct, defiant attitude and contemptuous conduct”, pending a report by the Privileges Committee. His suspension came on a motion moved by Leader of the House Piyush Goyal and cleared by the Chairman of Rajya Sabha Jagdeep Dhankhar.
Goyal sought action against Chadha for including names of some members of the Upper House without their consent in a proposed select committee for the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2023.
The BJP leader also had said Chadha compromised the dignity of members and the august position of the House by his misconduct. Earlier this month, the Delhi High Court halted a trial court order asking Chadha to vacate his Type 7 government bungalow after it cancelled the allotment.
Chadha was approaching the high court with his appeal against the trial court order which held that the former has no “vested right to continue to occupy” the bungalow allotted at Pandara Road, New Delhi as official accommodation in his capacity as a Member of the Rajya Sabha after its cancellation.