There is a simple, if profound, spirit that animates Articles 105 and 122 of the Constitution, which delineate parliamentary privilege: “There shall be freedom of speech in Parliament.” In essence, MPs are protected from legal action for anything they utter in the House so that neither the executive nor judiciary can undermine the deliberative function of the legislature. The recent actions by Vice-President and Chairman of the Rajya Sabha Jagdeep Dhankhar vis a vis Opposition MPs seem to indicate a desire to sanitise at best, and censor at worst, debate and discussion when it seems to go against the government of the day.
On Monday, Dhankhar all but ensured that the House would be mired in raucous conflict between the Treasury and Opposition benches when he asked the Committee of Privileges to investigate 12 MPs from Congress and AAP for “breach of privilege arising out of gross disorderly conduct”. The alleged misconduct includes shouting slogans and disrupting the House. This move comes on the heels of a standoff between the V-P and Congress on the discussion on the President’s Address, which was dominated by the Hindenburg report. Earlier this month, the Upper House expunged six remarks from Leader of Opposition and Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge’s speech. The thrust of Kharge’s intervention was a reiteration of the Opposition’s demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee to look into the alleged links between the Prime Minister and the Adani group of industries. Kharge took exception to the Chair’s demand that his allegations needed to be “authenticated”, citing the constitutional provision on parliamentary privilege.
