New Delhi: Congress MP Rajani Ashokrao Patil was suspended from the Rajya Sabha on Friday for the remainder of the Budget Session for recording proceedings of the House a day earlier.Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar suspended Patil, saying that she had “engaged in this unwholesome activity”. Patil had posted a video of the ruckus that erupted in the Rajya Sabha when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was replying to the motion of thanks on the president’s address on Thursday when Opposition began to protest the BJP government’s alleged patronage of the Adani Group. The Opposition also sought an investigation into claims of stock manipulation by Gautam Adani.Reacting to her suspension on Friday from the Rajya Sabha for the remainder of the Budget session for allegedly videographing the proceedings of the House a day earlier, Congress MP Rajani Patil claimed that it was unfair that the harshest punishment had been imposed on her though she did not commit any deliberate act.‘Felt like being hanged‘, says MP; terms complaint a manufactured programmePatil was quoted by news agency ANI as saying that the punishment was akin to her being ordered to be hanged without a trial. “I did nothing like that but I have been given “faansi ki sazaa” even when I did nothing. I come from the family of freedom fighter, and my culture doesn’t permit me to violate the law,” she said.The Congress MP added that the ruling party had complained against her as part of a “manufactured programme”.“We stopped PM Modi’s reply, again and again, yesterday which is why they are freaked out. This is their manufactured programme,” she was quoted as saying. The MP also asked if it was fair to suspend her immediately after she was named. “Accusing me like this and straightaway giving me the sternest punishment is not fair. I was deliberately named and I felt humiliated,” she insisted.Mann was suspended only after House panel recommended actionIncidentally, in the past there has been one more such instance of an MP, who recorded House proceedings, being punished for the same.That episode took place in 2016 and involved the Aam Aadmi Party MP in Lok Sabha and now Chief Minister of Punjab Bhagwant Mann.In the July of 2016, Mann had landed in a controversy after he allegedly live-streaming the proceedings from Parliament House on social media. However, in his case the suspension did not take immediately.A nine-member committee, headed by Kirit Somaiya, was constituted to probe the matter. It was after the panel submitted its report in December 2016 that Mann was suspended from the Lok Sabha for the remainder of the Winter Session. This was done after the House approved a motion put by Somaiya seeking Mann’s suspension.The motion had read: “That the House having taken note of the report of the committee to inquire into the improper conduct of a member of the Lok Sabha accepts the findings and recommendations of the committee that Bhagwant Mann has committed a highly objectionable act which is unbecoming of a member of the House and that he may be suspended from the membership of the House for the remaining period of the current session…”The committee had held in its report that Mann’s conduct was “highly objectionable” and that it showed that he was “bereft of basic knowledge, etiquettes and responsibilities of the office he holds”.Suspension comes for Patil before Privileges Committee probeIn Patil’s case, the suspension came at a much faster pace.Taking cognisance of the complaint from the BJP, the Chairman expressed his “serious view” on what he termed was her “unwholesome activity”.“Rajani Ashokrao Patil engaged in this unwholesome activity and what has been seen is a matter that must engage our attention,” Dhankhar said, adding that the matter would be investigated by the Privileges Committee.However, the punishment was meted out to the MP with immediate effect. Stating that he “did all that was required”, Dhankar said, “since the matter concerned the proceedings of the House, we had primary material.”He added that the “entire matter will be probed by the Privileges Committee and till we have the benefit of the recommendation of the Privileges Committee for consideration of this august House, Rajani Ashokrao Patil is suspended for the current session.”The entire matter will be probed by the Privileges Committee and till we have the benefit of the recommendation of the Privileges Committee for consideration of this august House, Dr Rajani Ashokrao Patil is suspended for the current session: RS Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar pic.twitter.com/YmQnShHJh0— ANI (@ANI) February 10, 2023