Raghav Chadha was suspended from Rajya Sabha on August 11. (FILE)
Aam Aadmi Party leader Raghav Chadha has approached the Supreme Court today challenging his suspension from the Rajya Sabha. He was suspended from the Upper House of the Parliament on August 1 for "breach of privilege" after four MPs alleged that he had violated rules by naming them in a House panel without their consent.
"People from the BJP are saying I submitted some MPs' signatures. I want to tell you the truth. Any parliamentarian has the right to nominate names for a committee. This means that I can propose names for a select committee. I don't need an MP's written consent or signature to do so. You just have to give the names. If any MP has an objection, they can withdraw their name. We have not submitted any signatures," the AAP leader said after his suspension,
The Rajya Sabha passed a resolution moved by leader of the House Piyush Goyal to suspend Mr Chadha till the privileges committee submits its findings. Mr Goyal had sought action against the AAP leader 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.
Raghav Chadha is the second AAP MP to be suspended from Rajya Sabha during Parliament's Monsoon session. Senior leader Sanjay Singh - who was arrested on October 4 by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with the Delhi liquor policy case - was suspended from the Rajya Sabha on July 24.
Earlier in the day, Mr Chadha approached the Delhi High Court challenging a local court's order that vacated an interim order concerning his stay at the official government bungalow allotted to him.
He was given a Type 6 bungalow in July last year and had requested the Rajya Sabha Chairman for a bigger, Type 7 accommodation, which was allotted to him in September that year. In March, however, the secretariat had cancelled the allotment, arguing that the first-time MP was not entitled to a bungalow of that grade.
"Arbitrary and unprecedented," was how Mr Chadha described the cancellation of his allotted bungalow.
"This along with my suspension as a Member of Parliament, which was initiated by the treasury benches, leaves no doubt that the BJP is leaving no stone unturned to target vocal Members of Parliament. This amounts to unwarranted interference in the due discharge of their functions as the Representatives of the House and hits a rock bottom of vendetta politics," he added.