House passes privilege motion against Khaira
CHANDIGARH : The Punjab assembly on Wednesday passed breach of privilege motion against leader of opposition and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Sukhpal Singh Khaira for claiming that “every MLA of the ruling party in Punjab faces allegations of illegal sand mining”.
Bringing the motion, parliamentary affairs minister Brahm Mohindra said that Khaira’s “baseless statement” has not only breached the privilege of the treasury benches but has also violated the sanctity of the House.
HT had reported the allegations made by Khaira.
“Khaira had also levelled similar allegations on November 29 during the zero hour in the assembly by terming all ruling party MLAs as ‘sare chor’ (all are thieves). When I had objected to this, these words were expunged from the record of the House. Even he had withdrawn these words. During the session on March 26, Khaira again used similar words against the Congress members,” said Mohindra.
The motion was forwarded to the privilege committee of Vidhan Sabha to probe the charges against Khaira.
Khaira levelled the allegations in his speech during debate on the governor’s address. The ruling party MLAs raised the issue in the assembly, demanding action against him. He was not present in the House when the motion was moved against him. AAP MLAs led by Aman Arora, HS Phoolka and Kanwar Sandhu registered their protest over the motion. House was adjourned sine die immediately after.
Later, Khaira told media that he will face the committee. “The ruling party is trying its best to suppress my voice by moving such motions. I am not going to bow down by any such move,” said Khaira.