‘It’s an affront to sacred institution of Parliament’: Congress on ED summoning Kharge

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

New
Delhi,
Aug
08:
The
Congress
on
Monday
termed
the
Enforcement
Directorate
summons
to
Leader
of
Opposition
in
Rajya
Sabha
Mallikarjun
Kharge
as
an
”outright
affront” to
Parliament
and
MPs,
and
said
it
is
high
time
that
presiding
officers
of
both
Houses
ensure
that
it
does
not
recur.

The
Enforcement
Directorate
had
on
Thursday
last
asked
Kharge
to
appear
before
it
in
connection
with
a
money
laundering
case
linked
to
the
National
Herald
newspaper.

In
a
statement,
Congress
general
secretary
Jairam
Ramesh
charged
that
the
ED
summons
to
Kharge
when
Parliament
session
was
on
was
done
with
the
sole
purpose
of
harassing
the
Leader
of
Opposition
(LOP)
and
the
Congress.

He
said
this
exercise
of
conducting
a
search
at
the
office
of
the
Young
Indian
by
the
ED
could
very
well
have
been
conducted
in
the
presence
of
counsel
authorised
by
the
LOP
for
the
purpose.

National
Herald
Case:
Kharge
grilled
by
ED
for
around
8
hrs;
Congress
calls
it
‘nothing
but
harassment’

However,
the
ED
did
not
accede
to
this
request
and
insisted
on
his
presence.
Ramesh
said
even
though
the
House
was
in
session,
the
LOP
adhered
to
the
summons
and
accordingly
went
to
the
Young
Indian
office
in
which
premises
he
was
required
to
be
present
for
more
than
eight
hours.

”Notwithstanding
this
fact,
in
matters,
issuing
of
summons
by
ED
or
any
law-enforcing
agencies
to
any
MP
much
less
the
Leader
of
Opposition
when
Parliament
is
in
session,
is
an
outright
affront
to
the
sacred
institution
of
Parliament
and
Parliamentarians,” he
said.

”Under
the
circumstances,
in
keeping
with
the
sanctity
of
Parliament
and
Parliamentarians
and
its
time-honoured
conventions,
it
is
high
time
that
the
presiding
officers
of
both
Houses
may
deliberate
and
ensure
that
such
gross
affronts
on
Parliament
and
MPs
does
not
recur,”
Ramesh
said
in
the
statement.

Mallikarjun Kharge has been summoned in the middle of Parliament session

The
Congress
leader
also
referred
to
the
August
5
observation
made
by
the
Rajya
Sabha
chairman,
the
thrust
of
which
was
that
Parliamentary
privileges
are
not
available
in
criminal
cases.
Ramesh
said
there
is
no
dispute
whatsoever
on
the
well-established
position
that
privileges
are
not
available
in
criminal
cases,
but
noted
that
in
the
National
Herald
case,
the
LOP
is
not
the
accused.

He
also
drew
attention
to
Rule
229
of
the
Rules
of
Procedure
and
Conduct
of
Business
in
Lok
Sabha
and
Rule
222A
of
Rules
of
Procedure
and
Conduct
of
Business
in
Rajya
Sabha
provisions
of
which
require
that
whenever
a
Member
of
Parliament
is
arrested
on
a
criminal
charge
or
for
criminal
offence
or
is
sentenced
to
imprisonment
or
is
detained
under
an
executive
order,
the
committing
judge,
magistrate
or
executive
authority,
an
intimation
has
to
be
immediately
sent
to
Speaker
Lok
Sabha
or
Chairman
Rajya
Sabha
as
the
case
may
be.

The
legislative
intent
behind
these
provisions
is
that
the
House
has
a
right
to
be
informed
as
to
why
a
member
is
not
able
to
attend
sitting
of
the
House
concerned,
reason
being
no
obstruction
is
caused
to
a
Member
of
Parliament
in
performance
of
his/her
Parliamentary
duties
unless
and
until
there
are
sufficient
reasons
meaning
thereby
their
detention
under
a
criminal
case,
Ramesh
said.

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