The Rajya Sabha Committee on Privileges looking into the alleged surveillance of mobile phones of senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley and then Leader of the Opposition in 2013 said on Tuesday unauthorised collection of call records of MPs amounts to breach of privilege if it hinders their functioning. It directed the Delhi Police to pursue criminal case filed in the matter with “all sincerity” so that the guilty persons could be punished and inform it about the outcome of the judicial proceedings in the case.
In its previous report, the panel had termed the unauthorised access of call data records of Jaitley as not breach of parliamentary privilege. Following the opposition to the report from several members of the House cutting across party lines, the panel on privileges revisited the report. The committee heard the Delhi Police Commissioner and also took opinion of the Attorney General on the issue of collection of call detail records of MPs.
The report said the panel after examining the matter was of the view that “if unauthorised collection of CDR of sitting members of Parliament causes any hindrance or obstruction in their parliamentary functions, it would tantamount to breach of privilege beside being a breach of privacy under the criminal law.” A notice of breach of privilege was given by some members of Rajya Sabha on alleged monitoring and surveillance of mobile phones of Arun Jaitley in 2013.
In another report tabled in the house, the committee said the matter related to Hindutva leader Sadhvi Prachi’s “terrorists in Parliament” remarks be allowed to rest, as pursuing it as ‘breach of privilege’ will not serve any purpose.
The Privileges Committee said the matter related to her “terrorists in Parliament” remarks be allowed to rest, as pursuing it as ‘breach of privilege’ will not serve any purpose. In 2015, Prachi triggered a controversy by alleging there were one or two terrorists in Parliament. She was apparently referring to MPs who were against hanging of 1993 Mumbai blasts convict Yakub Memon.
Following her remarks, many MPs from the Upper House, cutting across party lines, sought breach of privilege proceedings against Sadhvi Prachi. They gave a notice in this regard to then Rajya Sabha chairman Hamid Ansari, saying her remarks “violated the dignity” of Parliament.
The Rajya Sabha committee observed that her remarks were “unfair and had contemptuous undertone” apart from being a personal attack on Members of Parliament, even though she did not name any member. “The Committee felt that pursuing this matter of unwarranted remarks uttered by Sadhvi Prachi, as a breach of privilege, would serve no useful purpose,” the Rajya Sabha secretariat said in a statement. The panel also “recommended that the matter may be allowed to rest”.
However, the panel observed that such irresponsible remarks lead to erosion of values attached to these institutions and strongly condemned the remarks of Sadhvi Prachi.
In another matter of 2017, the parliamentary panel found the Editor-in-Chief of Sudarshan News TV Channel “guilty of committing gross breach of privilege and contempt of the House by his offensive conduct” against then Rajya Sabha MP Naresh Agrawal.
“The committee was of the view that his sole intention was to take undue advantage of the situation and hog the limelight by criticising Parliament and the member and get publicity in the process,” the panel said in its report.
It also recommended to the Information and Broadcasting Ministry to issue necessary guidelines to all TV channels for being cautious with regard to the telecasting and reporting the proceedings of the House and to desist from re-telecast of expunged portions of the proceedings.