New Delhi: “A Parliamentarian, who abuses another member of the Parliament, needs to be punished. It’s not a minor issue. The kind of words he (Ramesh Bidhuri) used are highly objectionable. This is an extreme kind of insult to a member of the House,” said former secretary general of Lok Sabha and renowned constitutional expert PDT Achary while speaking to ETV Bharat.
When asked about the warning issued by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to Ramesh Bidhuri, Achary said, “Such a warning is not enough. I can say about BJP’s plan or whether they will take any action against their MP. But, so far as Lok Sabha is concerned it is actually for the Speaker to refer the matter to the Privilege Committee now because the member has already given a notice or breach of privilege. It has become a matter of breach of privilege. The Committee can examine and suggest a solution,” said Achary.
Bidhuri, a South Delhi MP of BJP, used derogatory remarks and used provoking words against Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP) MP Danish Ali in the Lok Sabha on Friday during a discussion on Chandrayaan 3. Opposition leaders cutting across party lines vehemently criticised Bidhuri for using such words and condemned him.
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Several of the opposition leaders have also written letters to Birla requesting him to refer the matter to the Lok Sabha Privilege Committee. “The works he (Bidhuri) used were totally unconstitutional. He could have taken back his words and apologised. Now, the matter should be sent to the Privilege Committee so that stern action can be taken against the said MP,” said renowned constitutional expert and senior lawyer in the Supreme Court Satya Prakash Singh to this correspondent.
Also read: Two-time BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri has history of making controversial statements
He said that when the Privilege Committee of the Lok Sabha can take action against MPs of other political parties, especially opposition MPs, why can’t the matter be forwarded to the Privilege Committee? “Earlier also AAP MP Sanjay Singh faced a Privilege Committee probe following his unruly behaviour. In the same way, Bidhuria should also be treated,” said Singh. It is worth mentioning that the Lok Sabha Secretariat, last year, issued a booklet that lists words, the use of which in both Houses of Parliament is considered unparliamentary.
Following the issuance of the booklet, the use of words like ‘anarchist’, ‘shakuni’, ‘dictatorial’, ‘taanashah’, ‘taanashahi’, ‘Jaichand’, ‘vinash purush’, ‘Khalistani’, ‘khoon se kheti’ get expunged if used during debates or otherwise in both the Houses. Even commonly used words like ‘ashamed’, ‘abused’, ‘betrayed’, ‘corrupt’, ‘drama’, ‘hypocrisy’, ‘incompetent’ and many other words are now considered unparliamentary in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.
“It’s true, Parliament issued a booklet restricting the use of provoking and unconstitutional words. However, it is found that lawmakers still use several words, which got expunged during the discussion on any topic in the House,” said Singh. When contacted, D Raja, former MP and CPI’s national general secretary, said that his party criticised the MP for using unparliamentary words. “His party (BJP) should have taken stern action against Bidhuri. Issuing a show cause notice is not enough,” said Raja. As the matter escalated, the BJP on Friday issued a show cause notice to Bidhuria and asked him to reply within 15 days.
