Sushma makes her point
Minister she says did not help Lalit Modi, Oppn says she violated rules to make a formal ‘statement’
NEW DELHI: Breaking silence, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj on Monday told Rajya Sabha she did not help the controversial former IPL chairman, Lalit Modi. Her declaration however sparked a storm, with the Opposition saying she violated rules to make a formal ‘statement’.
A minister could not speak out of turn and needed to put the chair and the House on notice before making a statement, the Opposition argued. A debate over whether Swaraj’s intervention was a formal ‘statement’ or a ‘response’ roared into a procedural flashpoint. The chair ultimately ruled the minister’s utterances could not be taken as a statement, but the Opposition’s protests ultimately led to a washout.
Making use of the zero hour, a period starting at noon when MPs can raise urgent matters, Swaraj managed to speak the first time on an alleged scandal involving her. This appeared to be working to the government’s advantage, since this was the first time the upper House had showed signs of functioning after a series of opposition-sponsored disruptions. Media too began reporting Swaraj had made a “statement”.
“...I never requested the British government to give travel documents to Lalit Modi (to travel to Portugal),” Sushma Swaraj told the Rajya Sabha.
When the House reassembled after lunch, Opposition parties demanded the chair to “expunge” her “statement”. Congress leader Madhusudan Mistry quoted leader of the house, finance minister Arun Jatiley, as saying that Swaraj had in fact made a “statement”.
Jaitley said the minister had the right to respond to unsubstantiated allegations against her, but if the response was to be struck off House records, then the Opposition’s allegations against her should be expunged too.
The chair, deputy chairman PJ Kurien, eventually ruled that Swaraj’s response did not constitute a statement but would nonetheless go on record.