Lok Sabha Panel Scraps Adhir Ranjan's Suspension After Congress Leader Expresses 'Regret' Over Statements
Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury told the Lok Sabha Privileges Committee that he had never intended to offend anyone and expressed remorse for certain remarks during Parliament's monsoon session.
The Privileges Committee of Lok Sabha on Wednesday cancelled the suspension of Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury from the lower house of Parliament. The resolution came into effect after Chowdhury personally appeared before the Committee. According to news agency PTI, he expressed regret for certain statements he had made in the House that had led to his suspension from Lok Sabha. This suspension occurred on the final day of the monsoon session of Parliament on August 11.
Chowdhury conveyed to the Committee, which is headed by Sunil Kumar Singh from the BJP, that he had never intended to offend anyone's sentiments and expressed remorse for his specific remarks.
A member of the panel was quoted as saying by PTI, "The Committee has agreed upon a resolution to lift the suspension of Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury from Lok Sabha. We will promptly forward the resolution to the Speaker."
On August 11, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla reprimanded Chowdhury for his "disorderly behaviour" and subsequently suspended him from Lok Sabha after a resolution on the same was proposed by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi. This suspension was to remain in effect until a report was received from the Privileges Committee.
During the Committee's session on August 18, several members shared the perspective that Lok Sabha had already penalized Chowdhury for his behaviour, negating the necessity for further scrutiny of his actions by a parliamentary panel. However, adhering to principles of fairness, the Committee had summoned Chowdhury to make an appearance before them on Wednesday.
Parliament saw a heat monsoon session after several disruptions over the Manipur violence issue. It also saw a no-confidence motion being brought against the government over its failure to bring law and order under control in the northeastern state. During the monsoon session, Lok Sabha passed 22 Bills with a productivity of 45% in 44.15 hours of operation over 17 sittings.
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