leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta has written to the Vidhan Sabha secretariat that if his article in a Hindi newspaper favouring abolition of the Upper House of Parliament had unwittingly hurt the sentiments of Rajya Sabha member KC Tyagi, he had no hesitation in expressing his regret for it.
In his reply to a notice by Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel seeking an explanation from Gupta following a communication from Rajya Sabha chairman Hamid Ansari to initiate necessary action against him, the lOP claimed that the notice was bereft of any specific allegation on how his article amounted to a breach of privilege or contempt of the august House.
In his privilege notice to Ansari against Gupta under Rule 188 of conduct of the business in the House, Tyagi had held that the views expressed by the Delhi BJP legislator amounted to breach of privilege and contempt of the House. Following this, Ansari in a written communication to the Assembly Speaker had said he was referring the matter to him for further necessary action as one House cannot claim or exercise any authority over members of the other House.
In his reply, Gupta said Tyagi’s notice was misconceived, vague and questioned the legitimate concern raised by him as well as various other public spirited citizens. He said, “I wish to submit with utmost humility at my command that deliberation, discussion and public debate on issues which reside in the basic structure of the Constitutional freedom guaranteed to the citizens’ strike at the very heart of a democracy. Such a debate, therefore, should not be visited with such notices, especially if the same is based on empirical data.”
Gupta said his article in the Hindi daily was a mere critique on the role of the Houses of Parliament and a need for reforming the same. He said, “Such reforms have taken place in the United Kingdom where the powers of the Upper and lower Houses have gone through a sea change. Prior to 1911, the House of lords had the power to veto any Bill passed by the House of Commons. But by way of Parliament Act, 1911 the House of lords which is the Upper House now only has a suspensory veto which can only effect a delay in the passing of a Bill passed by the House of Commons and cannot veto the same. Thus, this paradigm shift in the United Kingdom parliamentary system further underlines the need for a possible rethink of our parliamentary system which draws inspiration from and is largely modeled on the said system.”