Tharoor, BJP’s Dubey move breach of privilege notice against each other
NEW DELHI: The row in the parliamentary panel on Information and Technology over seeking an explanation from Facebook intensified on Wednesday with Congress MP Shashi Tharoor and BJP MP Nishikant Dubey moving breach of privilege notices against each other.
The chairperson of the panel, the Congress’ Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla that the “disparaging remarks” made by Dubey were a “breach of his privilege as an MP”. “To claim that the Chairman has acted in excess of his authority to convene a meeting on a pre-approved agenda, and has proceeded without seeking the necessary approvals, is tantamount to contempt of the due procedure followed by the House,” Tharoor wrote in his letter.
Dubey, meanwhile, shot off his own letter, arguing that Tharoor is in a “serious breach of privilege“and was using the parliamentary committee platform to tarnish the BJP’s image.
He accused Tharoor of sensationalizing a small incident, referring to a Wall Street Journal report that said that Facebook’s top lobbyist in India prevented the company from taking action for hate speech against a member of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
The report has created a controversy, with the Congress and the BJP trading allegations -each claiming that Facebook is a tool of the other.
Interestingly, Dubey has also sought a privilege motion against Rahul Gandhi.
“By levelling… unsubstantiated allegations against all the Members of Parliament, Lok Sabha, who belong to BJP, he (Gandhi) has also lowered the dignity of all such Members of Parliament and infringed upon their Parliamentary Privileges...” he wrote.
The letters to the speaker, seen by Hindustan Times, come on the heels of a split in the IT Parliamentary panel over asking Facebook to explain reports of alleged bias .
A member of the IT Panel, Dubey took to Twitter on August 17 to claim Tharoor, as chairperson of the Standing Committee “does not have the authority to do anything without discussion of the agenda with its members”. “He (Tharoor) can not think that the Parliament is an extension of the Congress party,” Dubey told Hindustan Times. “We cannot discuss a subject just because Rahul Gandhi has tweeted about it.”
According to Parliamentary rules, “if any individual or authority violates or disregards any of the privileges, powers and immunities of the House or members or committees thereof, he may be punished for “breach of privilege” or “contempt of the House”.
The House has the power to determine as to what constitutes breach of privilege and contempt. The penal jurisdiction of the House in this regard covers its members as well as strangers and every act of violation of privileges, whether committed in the immediate presence of the House or outside of it.”
Moreover, a person found guilty of breach of privilege or contempt of the House “may be punished either by imprisonment, or by admonition (warning), or reprimand. Two other punishments may also be awarded to the members for contempt, namely, ‘suspension’ and ‘expulsion’ from the House”.
But according to former Lok Sabha secretary-general PDT Achary, neither Tharoor, nor Dubey have grounds for breach of privilege.
“Neither of the two MPs have a case,” Achary told Hindustan Times.
Achary added that the procedure is that after a case of breach of privilege comes to light, the Speaker decides whether or not to forward it to the Privileges Committee.
“If the Speaker forwards it, then there is a prima facie case but in this instance, I doubt the Speaker will send these forward.”