Congress gives breach of privilege notice against Amit Shah

The Congress on Thursday gave a notice in the Lok Sabha against alleged breach of privilege by Home Minister Amit Shah, accusing him of speaking untruth on Maharashtra farm widow Kalawati Bandurkar who Rahul Gandhi had met in 2008.

The notice was given to Speaker Om Birla by Congress MP and party's whip in Lok Sabha Manickam Tagore.

(Rajyasabha.nic.in states that ‘a breach of privilege can arise only when the member or the Minister makes a false statement or an incorrect statement wilfully, deliberately and knowingly.’

(A breach of privilege is a violation of any of the privileges of MPs/Parliament, says PRS Legislative Research. Parliamentary privilege refers to rights and immunities enjoyed by Parliament as an institution and MPs in their individual capacity, without which they cannot discharge their functions as entrusted upon them by the Constitution.

(‘Among other things, any action 'casting reflections' on MPs, Parliament or its committees; could be considered breach of privilege. This may include publishing of news items, editorials or statements made in newspaper/magazine/TV interviews or in public speeches.’)

"I submitted a privilege motion against Sh Amit Shah for misleading the Parliament yesterday on smt Kalawati story to Honble Speaker," Tagore said on X, formerly known as Twitter, while sharing the notice.

Gandhi had visited Bandurkar's house in 2008 after her husband committed suicide following a farm crisis in Maharashtra's Vidarbha.

During the debate on the no-confidence motion on Wednesday, Shah had referred to 13 "failed" attempts to launch Rahul Gandhi's political career and recalled how he narrated a tale of a poor woman Kalawati. Shah said it was the Modi government which ensured that she got a home and benefited from various government schemes.

However, the Congress alleged the Modi government was lying on Kalawati and shared a video of the farmer on X. Kalawati claims in the video that Rahul Gandhi had helped her tide over poverty.

In his notice, Tagore alleged that Shah has breached parliamentary privilege by not upholding the sanctity of accurate and truthful information when addressing the house.

"The issue in question pertains to a statement made by the Hon'ble Minister of Home Affairs in Lok Sabha yesterday i e. 09.08.2023, wherein he provided details of facilities purportedly extended by the Government at the house of smt Kalawati, a farmer's widow from Maharashtra. However, to the utter dismay of the concerned us this statement has been vehemently refuted by the concerned Smt Kalawati herself to media channels who has explicitly stated that the Modi government has not provided any such facilities for the past eight years instead Sh Rahul Gandhi helped her in building her house," he alleged.

"This discrepancy between the statement made by the Hon'ble Union Minister and the reality as communicated by the affected Smt Kalawati raises serious doubts about the veracity of the information presented in the Lok Sabha and it highlights a potential breach of privilege under Rule 22, Chapter 20 of the Lok Sabha Rules," he alleged.

In light of the aforementioned circumstances, Tagore hoped the speaker would take cognisance of this matter and consider initiating appropriate action.

"The breach of privilege motion, as outlined in Rule 22. Chapter 20 of the Lok Sabha Rules, should be initiated to ensure the accountability and integrity of our parliamentary system.

"Therefore, I request you to exercise your esteemed authority to move a breach of privilege motion against the Hon'ble Union minister for his statement which appears to be in direct contradiction to the ground reality and direct him to seek apology from the House of People for his wrong and irresponsible statement yesterday. The video clip and link of the same is attached herewith," Tagore said in his notice.