MPs demand contempt proceedings against Jaipal Reddy

Members in the Rajya Sabha on Monday demanded that Information and Broadcasting Minister S Jaipal Reddy be summoned to the bar of the House and reprimanded for his reported comments about Deputy Chairperson Najma Heptulla. The comments were reportedly made after the government failed to secure the passage of the Presidential and Vice-Presidential Elections (amendment) bill on Thursday.

Giving a privilege notice against Reddy for contempt of the House, several members said the Union minister had cast aspersions on the chair through his interviews to some English dailies.

Reddy, they alleged, said that Dr Heptulla's refusal to adjourn the House led to the defeat of the bill. The minister, who walked into the House nearly 40 minutes after the issue was raised, said he had not seen newspaper reports and would react to the privilege notice when he saw it.

Bharatiya Janata Party members pointed out that the decision to sit beyond 1700 hours on Thursday was taken after a motion moved in this regard by leader of the Opposition Sikandar Bakht was adopted by the House.

Raising the matter during zero hour, V K Malhotra (BJP) said the government was blaming Dr Heptulla for its failure to mobilise members on the treasury benches.

Amid cries of ''shame, shame'' by his party colleagues, Malhotra said nobody should be allowed to cast aspersions on the chair, especially when the decision to sit beyond 1700 hrs was taken by the House.

Satish Agarwal (BJP), quoting extensively from the rule book, said Reddy had indirectly blamed the chair for the government's defeat on the floor of the House. He said Reddy was not even a member of either House of Parliament.

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Jayanthi Natarajan sought to clarify that the government had the highest respect for the chair. ''Nobody is casting aspersions on the chair,'' she said.

Dr Heptulla said the matter concerned the contempt of the House and not that of the chair.

She said the decision to extend the House beyond 1700 hours was taken by the House and not by the chair. The House, she said, was supreme and not the chair. ''If the House has taken a decision, I have no alternative but to bow before the House,'' she said.

Meanwhile, the Union Cabinet on Monday approved a proposal for the re-introduction of Presidential and Vice-Presidential Election (Amendment) bill, which was earlier rejected by the Rajya Sabha on August 7.

Official sources said the bill would be introduced in its original form.

Re-introduction of the bill became necessary as the Presidential and Vice-Presidential Election (Amendment) ordinance will lapse on September 2 and Parliament has to pass the bill in the current session, which might be adjourned on August 29.

UNI