Plaints against 19 MPs rejected over procedure; Naidu calls for awareness about Ethics panel rules
New Delhi: The Ethics Committee of Rajya Sabha rejected complaints against 19 MPs as they were filed without following prescribed procedures, prompting Upper House Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu to direct officials to create awareness among public about the functioning of the panel, sources said.
A proposal has also been moved to Ethics Committee Chairman Prabhat Jha to re-examine the present rules regarding admission of complaints against MPs.
Naidu's direction came after a review of the functioning of the Ethics Committee last week.
During the meeting, it came to his notice that 22 complaints against 19 members of Rajya Sabha during the last four years had to be returned by the Committee without examination, the sources said.
This was done since complaints were not made in accordance with the prescribed procedure, they said.
The Ethics Committee of the Upper House oversees the conduct of members and examines complaints of unethical conduct to enable its effective functioning.
The complaints against 19 Rajya Sabha members of eight major parties from both the ruling and opposition benches, besides two independent members, were not taken up for preliminary examination by the Ethics Committee as they were not directly addressed to the authorities mentioned under Rule 295, the sources said.
Of these 22 complaints, 13 were referred to the RS secretariat by the Department of Personnel and Training, four each by the Ministry of Home Affairs and Lok Sabha secretariat, and one by the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, on being addressed to them by the complainants.
Now the Rajya Sabha secretariat has forwarded a proposal to the Ethics Committee Chairman to re-examine the present rules regarding admission of complaints.
As per Rule 295 of the 'Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Council of States', any person can make a complaint of unethical conduct against a member of the House in writing either to the Ethics Committee or an officer authorized by the Committee, officials said.
The sources said the Committee can also take up such matters suo moto. Under Rule 296, Ethics Committee may take up the complaints for preliminary inquiry, if it is made in proper form.
Under Rule 303, the Chairman of Rajya Sabha may refer any question involving unethical conduct and other misconduct of a member to the Committee for examination, investigation and report.
Ethics Committee of Rajya Sabha, the first of it's kind for legislatures in the country, was set up in 1997 to oversee the moral and ethical conduct of the members as internal self-regulatory mechanism.
The Ethics Committee of Rajya Sabha has so far submitted ten reports, officials said.
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Police arrested Kejriwal's aide at same time his anticipatory bail plea was being heard: Atishi
New Delhi (PTI): Delhi Minister Atishi alleged on Saturday that the city police arrested Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's aide Bibhav Kumar at the same time his anticipatory bail plea was being heard in court.
Kumar was arrested on Saturday in connection with the alleged assault on AAP Rajya Sabha member Swati Maliwal, officials said.
He was picked up from the chief minister's residence by a Delhi Police team around noon, a senior officer said.
Addressing a press conference, Atishi said Kumar had filed a plea for anticipatory bail before the Tis Hazari court.
Kumar was picked up for questioning by the Delhi Police around 11 am. As soon as he was taken for questioning, news channels started saying he had been arrested, she claimed.
"This shows the BJP's conspiracy. Their intention is to disturb our election campaign and Arvind Kejriwal," she said.
Atishi said the Tis Hazari court considered Kumar's matter urgent and agreed to hear his plea on Saturday itself.
"The court commenced hearing on his plea at 3:55 pm and within 20 minutes, the Delhi Police arrested him at the Civil Lines police station. As soon as his lawyers began arguments, the police learnt that their case is weak and Kumar would get relief. So they arrested Kumar," she claimed.
Atishi alleged that when the court was dictating its order on the matter at 4:55 pm, the Delhi Police lawyer appeared through videoconferencing and said Kumar had already been arrested.
Kumar's anticipatory bail plea has become "infructuous" as he has been arrested, the court observed.
The chief minister's aide, accused of assaulting Maliwal on May 13 at Kejriwal's residence, was arrested two days after an FIR was registered against him at the Civil Lines police station.
Additional Sessions Judge Sushil Anuj Tyagi, while dictating the order to the court staff on the anticipatory bail plea, noted that Additional Public Prosecutor Atul Kumar Srivastava appeared through videoconferencing around 4:45 pm and informed the court that Kumar had already been arrested.
Atishi said, "Even they knew that their case was weak and if the case was heard, Bibhav Kumar would get bail. That is why tomorrow (Sunday) Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will lead all AAP leaders and to the BJP headquarters and court arrest."
Kejriwal said he and other AAP leaders would go to the BJP headquarters on Sunday "so that the prime minister can send anyone he wants to jail".
The BJP is saying they would send AAP MP Raghav Chadha and Delhi ministers Atishi and Saurabh Bharadwaj to jail, he claimed at a press briefing, hours after Kumar was arrested.
