Mahua Moitra’s Misfortunes: Can Captain Amarinder Singh’s Supreme Court Ruling Help?
Congress MP Maharani Preneet Kaur (suspended by her Party) & wife of Captain Amarinder Singh, two-time CM of Punjab who’s now in BJP, cast a decisive vote in favour of expulsion in Ethics Committee.
Story on Verge of Breaking
With the Ethics Committee of the Lok Sabha, after its preliminary enquiry, having recommended the expulsion of the TMC MP Mahua Moitra, many believe it is only a matter of a few days before a formal resolution of Lok Sabha, expelling the combative, articulate and telegenic MP is formally adopted. Interestingly, both the Constitution of India as well as the “Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business of Lok Sabha”, which had been amended to include the provisions of the Ethics Committee, are silent about the expulsion of the Members of the Lower House.
The Supreme Court’s 2007 Precedent (Cash-for-Question Expulsions in 2005)
However, this matter has been settled by the Supreme Court of India in litigation that emanated from the implementation of the recommendations of the Pawan Bansal Committee report, in the very first year of Manmohan Singh’s UPA-I Government, that led to the expulsion of 10 Lok Sabha and one Rajya Sabha MP, in the year 2005. The Apex Court had in 2007 upheld the decision of the House and ruled that although the provision of “expulsion” was not specifically mentioned in the Constitution, it was a part and parcel of the Parliament privileges immunities embodied in Article 105, since the House was obligated to ensure ethical conduct by its Members1. The Pawan Bansal Committee had been constituted following a sting operation carried out by the Internet portal CobraPost that had caught these MPs on video, allegedly demanding or accepting cash for questions to be put in the Parliament.
Opposition’s Reaction — then
Notably, all, apart from one MP who belonged to the ruling Congress Party, all others were members of the opposition parties, including six from BJP and three from BSP. Senior Leaders of Opposition, including BJP’s LK Advani and VK Malhotra,……… (follow the link below to read the full story…..)
