New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday, October 16, issued a notice to the Rajya Sabha secretariat in connection with Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Raghav Chadha’s plea questioning his indefinite suspension from the House pending an inquiry by the Privileges Committee.The matter will be next heard on October 30. Both Rajya Sabha secretariat and its chairperson, Jagdeep Dhankar, are respondents in the matter.Chadha was suspended from the House starting August 11 for an indefinite period until the Privileges Committee, which is probing the matter, submits its report. His suspension came after five Rajya Sabha MPs accused Chadha of mentioning their names without their consent in the motion that sought a select committee to examine the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2023. S. Phangnon Konyak, Narhari Amin, and Sudhanshu Trivedi of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP); M. Thambidurai of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK); and Sasmit Patra of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) levelled the allegation against the AAP MP.The contentious Bill (now law) was passed by both Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha, replacing the Ordinance pertaining to the transfer and posting of senior officials in the Delhi government. The legislation received the President’s assent on August 13.Senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for Chadha, told the court that there have been 11 instances in the last 75 years where MPs included the names of their fellow MPs who were unwilling to be part of motions. And, he went on to add that those names were merely dropped without slapping a suspension order against the MPs in question.He also argued that according to the Rules of Conduct of Business in the Rajya Sabha, the MP can be suspended only for the remainder of the particular session – in this case, the Monsoon Session. Suspension of an MP beyond a session is not only against the rules but also amounts to expulsion of the MP from the House, and in effect, creates a vacancy in the House, Dwivedi added.In underscoring his point, Dwivedi pointed to the Supreme Court’s verdict in the 2022 case of Ashish Shelar vs State of Maharashtra, which held that a member of the House cannot be suspended beyond a session.According to the Deccan Herald, Dwivedi said Chadha’s indefinite suspension, beyond the Monsoon session, is on the face of it “illegal, manifestly arbitrary, unconstitutional, and erosive of the rights of effective representation to the people of Punjab”. Chadha is a Rajya Sabha MP from Punjab, where AAP is in power.Due to suspension, Chadha said in his petition that he is not able to attend the meetings of the Standing Committee on Finance and the Committee on Subordinate Legislation, of which he is a member. The work of parliament committees continues even when the House is not in session.“My suspension serves as a stark message from the BJP to today’s youth: If you dare to ask questions, we will crush your voice. I was suspended for asking tough questions that left the BJP, the world’s largest party, without answers through my speech in Parliament on the Delhi Services Bill,” Chadha had said after his suspension, according to the Hindustan Times.
