Indian Ambassador to US Ronen Sen appears to be off the hook over his controversial "headless chickens" remark that had landed him in a soup as a key Parliamentary panel on Friday took a lenient view of the issue and reportedly closed the case.
The Lok Sabha Privileges Committee, which met in Delhi, recommended that Sen be let off with a word of caution for his 'act of indiscretion' in making the controversial remark that he had made against the critics of the Indo-US nuclear deal, sources said.
Taking note of his unqualified apology, the committee headed by senior Congress Member of Parliament V Kishorechandra Deo has decided to treat the matter as closed, committee sources said adding, that the report will be placed before the House next week.
The Privileges Committee of the Rajya Sabha, which is also going into the issue, is meeting on November 20 but that committee too had not been harsh on Sen when it had summoned him sometime back like the Lok Sabha panel.
A draft of the report on Sen was considered and approved by the Lok Sabha Committee, which held that there was no breach of privilege or contempt of the House by the Indian envoy.
Maintaining that the remark was not against MPs, but targeted at the media, it felt that it was "lamentably naive" for the senior diplomat to make such unguarded comment even in an informal chat.
Sen's remarks had created a furore in both the Houses of Parliament in the monsoon session leading to demands that he be called to the Bar of the House.
Friday's meeting also considered the issue of codification of privileges and the issue of demands by courts and investigating agencies for Parliamentary documents.