House Panel To Hear Suspended Congress Leader, He Says "Will Do My Duty"

The Privileges Committee of the Lok Sabha today decided to give Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury an opportunity to appear before it and respond to the allegations against him which led to his suspension. He will be heard during the next meeting of the committee, which is scheduled to be held on August 30. 

Mr Chowdhury, who is the leader of the Congress party in the Lok Sabha, was named by Speaker Om Birla for "gross misconduct" on August 11, the last day of the Monsoon session. He was suspended pending a report from the Privileges Committee.

Speaking to NDTV, Mr Chowdhury said he will do his duty as an MP and appear before the committee to present his case. 

"I am a Member of Parliament. I will abide by the rules of conduct and adhere to the directives of the Privileges Committee. I will present my case before it. It is the duty of an MP to appear before the Privileges Committee as per the established norms," said Mr Chowdhury. 

"I have already elaborated my stand on the allegations levelled against me in public. I will submit them before the Privileges Committee," he added. 

In today's meeting of the committee, which is chaired by BJP member Sunil Kumar Singh, the notice against Mr Chowdhury was examined in detail. The committee has 14 members, eight of whom are from the BJP.

After the meeting, a member of the committee from the Opposition cited a Supreme Court court order of January 2022, which states that no action can be taken against a legislator after a House session officially ends, and said the same thing should be followed in Mr Chowdhury's case. The member also said the Congress leader had already been suspended and "legally, no one can be punished twice for the same offence". 

After voting on the no-confidence debate against the Narendra Modi government on August 11, the motion for Mr Chowdhury's suspension was moved by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi.

"This House having taken serious note of the gross, deliberate and repeated misconduct of Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury in utter disregard to the House and authority of Chair resolves that the matter of his misconduct be referred to Committee of Privileges of the House for the further investigation and report to the House and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury be suspended from the service of the House till the Committee submits its report," Mr Joshi had said.