Punishing MPs

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 This refers to the disruption of parliamentary proceedings in the regimes of all political parties. It is a political fashion of the ruling side to blame the Opposition for avoiding discussions on allegations against Ministers, by disrupting Parliament. The rules of the unholy game of washouts of costly parliamentary proceedings remain the same, even after a change of sides by rivals. The BJP too, as the Opposition, had not allowed Parliament to function on various issues in the past.

A response through the Right to Information Act reveals that Chairpersons of both Houses of Parliament have sufficient powers to take action against members disrupting parliamentary proceedings. But these powers are hardly exercised in practice. Neither does the ruling side ever force Chairpersons to follow such rules, because that would harm them when they move to the opposite side in the future.

The best option is to suspend Parliament after the initial days of disruption till the Opposition agrees to allow the smooth running of the two Houses. This will save on the allowances of MPs and other daily costs in running Parliament. However, a more permanent remedy is to abolish parliamentary immunity so that unruly behaviour and criminal activities of parliamentarians can be challenged in courts.

Daily Pioneer
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