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- By Abhirupa Kundu
- Wed, 24 Jan 2024 11:06 AM (IST)
- Source:JND
The 14 Opposition MPs who were suspended for privileges cases might be allowed to attend the upcoming budget session as the committees of both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha began a process to submit reports on the lawmakers, sources familiar with the matter said. Significantly, this is the last budget session before the 2024 general elections.
Amid a tumultuous winter session, in an unprecedented move, a total of 146 MLAs were suspended between December 17 and 19. However, 90 per cent of the lawmakers are free to attend the budget session as they were only banned for the winter session.
The rest 14 including three from Lok Sabha and 11 from the Rajya Sabha are facing privileges charges, which ought to keep them out of the budget session, unless the reports of the privileges committees are submitted by the first few days of the session.
On January 30, the Lok Sabha Privileges Committee have called a meeting to adopt the draft report on the issue.
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"Motion resolution adopted by the House on 18 December 2023 leading to their suspension from the service of the House for creating grave disorder in the House and referring the matter to the Committee of Privileges for further investigation and report to the House-Consideration and adoption of draft Report," a notice of the panel meeting posted on the Lok Sabha portal read.
Meanwhile, a meeting was called by the Upper House on January 9 on the subject, but the forum did not reach to decision as only three members including the Rajya Sabha deputy chairman Harivansh, who heads the panel, were present.
"We are looking for a suitable date to call another meeting at the earliest," a functionary at the meeting had said.
The 14 suspended MPs include K Jayakumar and Abdul Khaleque of the Congress and Vijay Kumar of the Janata Dal United from the Lok Sabha; and Congress’s Jebi Mather, L Hanumanthaiah, Neeraj Dangi, Rajmani Patel, Kumar Ketkar, and GC Chandrasekhar, Communist Party of India’s Binoy Viswam and Sandosh Kumar, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s Mohamad Abdulla and Communist Party of India (Marxist)’s John Brittas and AA Rahim from the Rajya Sabha.