Mahua Moitra Row: Difference between Expulsion & Suspension; Why 10 LS MPs Were Expelled on 1 Day Explained – News18

Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Mahua Moitra was on Friday expelled from the Lok Sabha after the House adopted the report of its Ethics Committee that held her guilty of accepting gifts and illegal gratification from a businessman to further his interest.

ALSO READ | ‘Serious Misdemeanours Call for Severe Punishment’: What Ethics Panel Report Said About Mahua Moitra

After a heated debate over the panel report during which Moitra was not allowed to speak, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi moved a motion to expel the Trinamool member for “unethical conduct”, which was adopted by a voice vote. Moitra equated the action with hanging by a “kangaroo court” and alleged a parliamentary panel was being weaponised by the government to force the opposition into submission. She told reporters that she has been found guilty of breaching a code of ethics that does not exist and that there was no evidence of cash or gift given to her.

A look at the difference between expulsion and suspension of MPs:

SUSPENSION: ALL ABOUT THE ETHICS AND PRIVILEGES COMMITTEES

Formed in 2000, the ethics committee looks at moral and ethical conduct of members and probes:

• Complaints filed against members of the House by other members
• Outsiders through a member or referred by the Speaker

The Committee first conducts an inquiry before deciding on the probe. The panel sends the report to the Speaker, who then puts it forward in the House

The panel has the discretion to define “ethical” action

The privileges committee or special inquiry committee probes the grave accusations.

WHEN 11 MPs WERE EXPELLED ON ONE DAY…

Responding to the criticism over the action against Moitra, BJP MP Hina Gavit said, “During the UPA government in 2005, a report was presented and 10 Lok Sabha members were expelled on same day…”

Here’s how the action unfolded.

A sting operation conducted by online news site Cobrapost and aired on a private TV channel showed that 11 MPs accepted cash in exchange for raising questions in the Parliament.

In a vote on December 24, 2005, the Parliament decided to expel all 11 MPs. The resolution for expulsion was introduced by Pranab Mukherjee, the leader of the house in Lok Sabha, and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh did the same in the Rajya Sabha. It was passed.

ALSO READ | From Indira Gandhi to Vijay Mallya; These 17 MPs Have Been Expelled from the Parliament

The accused MPs included six from the BJP, three from BSP, and one each from the RJD and Congress. The individuals involved were Y G Mahajan (BJP), Chhatarpal Singh Lodha from the RS (BJP), Anna Saheb M K Patil (BJP), Manoj Kumar (RJD), Chandra Pratap Singh (BJP), Ram Sewak Singh (Congress), Narender Kumar Kushwaha (BSP), Pradeep Gandhi (BJP), Suresh Chandel (BJP), Lal Chandra Kol (BSP), and Raja Rampal (BSP).

LK Advani, leader of the Opposition at the time, walked out of the vote, calling it a ‘kangaroo court.’

In January 2007, the Supreme Court upheld the Parliament’s decision to expel the MPs.

THE CONSTITUTION AND SC ON EXPULSION

The Article 101 of the Constitution gives only three grounds on which the seat on an MP can be vacated:

• Resignation
• Disqualification
• Continuous absence from the House for 60 sittings

2007: In Raja Rampal vs Speaker (see above), the SC upheld the power of Parliament to expel its members for breach of privilege by interpreting Article 101 to include expulsion as grounds.

2010: In Amarinder Singh vs Special committee, Punjab Vidhan Sabha, the Supreme Court held expulsion by the State Assembly as unconstitutional.

WHAT HAPPENED IN MAHUA’s CASE?

The Ethics Committee report found Moitra guilty of “unethical conduct” and contempt of the House by sharing her Lok Sabha credentials — User ID and Password of Lok Sabha Member’s Portal, with unauthorised persons which had an irrepressible impact on national security.

The motion moved by Joshi said that Moitra’s “conduct has further been found to be unbecoming as a member of parliament for accepting gifts and illegal gratification from a businessman to further his interest which is a serious misdemeanour and highly deplorable conduct” on her part.

Joshi urged the House to accept the recommendation and finding of the committee and “resolve that continuance of Mahua Moitra as member of Lok Sabha is untenable and she may be expelled from the membership of the Lok Sabha”.

ALSO READ | Cash for Query | UAE Trip, Billionaire Businessman & a Dog: How the Case Against Mahua Moitra Unfolded

Trinamool Congress and other opposition members demanded that Moitra be allowed to put her views in the House, which was turned down by Speaker Om Birla citing past precedence. Birla observed that in 2005, the then Speaker Somnath Chatterjee had in a directive disallowed 10 Lok Sabha members, who were involved in a ‘cash for questions’ scam, to speak in the House.

Joshi said in 2005 the then Leader of the House Pranab Mukherjee had moved a motion to expel 10 members on the same day the report was introduced in the Lok Sabha.

Earlier, Ethics Committee Chairman Vinod Kumar Sonkar tabled the first report of the Committee on the complaint filed by BJP member Nishikant Dubey against Moitra.

WHAT NEXT?

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has already filed a PE in the case. A PE is the precursor and formal enquiry into any matter for CBI to decide whether it wants to convert it into a regular case (a first information report) based on available evidence or close it.

WHAT IS SUSPENSION?

To ensure smooth proceedings and maintain order, the Presiding Officer — Speaker of Lok Sabha and Chairman of Rajya Sabha — of the House has the power to force a Member to withdraw from the House.

In case of Lok Sabha

Rule Number 373 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business empowers presiding officers to direct an MP to withdraw from the House for any disorderly conduct. This rule says that any Member so ordered to withdraw shall remain absent during the remainder of the day’s sitting.

To deal with more recalcitrant (uncooperative) members, Rule 374 allows the Presiding officers to name the legislators if the MP continues disrupting the House even after repeated warnings. After that, the House can move a motion to suspend the MP for a period not exceeding the remainder of the session

Rule 374A was incorporated in the Rule Book in December 2001. The intention was to circumvent the necessity of adopting a motion for suspension. Under this rule, the Speaker can name an MP, who shall then automatically stand suspended for five days or the remaining part of the session, whichever is less. Provided that the House may, at any time, on a motion being made, resolve that such suspension be terminated.

ALSO READ | Mahua Moment or Poll Woo-mania? Why It took So Long for TMC, Cong to Support Moitra

In case of Rajya Sabha

Rule 255 of the Rule Book of Rajya Sabha allows the Chairman of Rajya Sabha to direct any Member to withdraw immediately from the House for any disorderly conduct.

Rule 256 empowers the Chairman to name the members who persistently disregards the authority of the Chair or abuses the rules of the Council. After that, the House may adopt a motion suspending the Member for a period not exceeding the remainder of the session.

Unlike Lok Sabha (under rule 374A), Rajya Sabha cannot suspend its members without passing a motion for the same.

Article 122 of the Indian Constitution says parliamentary proceedings can’t be questioned by the judiciary. In some cases, however, courts have intervened. For example, the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly passed a resolution in its 2021 Monsoon Session suspending 12 BJP MLAs for a year. The matter came before the Supreme Court, which held that the resolution was ineffective beyond the remainder of the Monsoon Session.

WHAT HAPPENS ONCE SUSPENDED?

• The maximum period of suspension is for the remainder of the session.
• Suspended members cannot enter the chamber or attend the meetings of the committees.
• He will not be eligible to give notice for discussion or submission.
• He loses the right to get a reply to his questions

A CASE IN POINT

The suspension of Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) Rajya Sabha MP, Raghav Chadha, was revoked on Monday, on the first day of the Parliament’s Winter Session. Chadha’s suspension was revoked by Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar on the motion moved by BJP MP GVL Narasimha Rao.

The AAP MP was suspended from Rajya Sabha on August 11. Chadha, who was accused by the BJP of forging the signatures of five MPs, was suspended from the Rajya Sabha by Dhankhar, on the last day of the Monsoon Session of Parliament.

With PTI Inputs