On 29th July 2022, the leader of the opposition in Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge urged the Chairman of the house in a written letter to expunge the remarks made by Union Ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and Piyush Goyal on Sonia Gandhi in the House on July 28. There was an uproar in both the houses of the parliament on 28th July 2022 over the ‘Rashtrapatni’ jibe by Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury against President Draupadi Murmu.
Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge writes to the Chairman of the House, requesting him to expunge the remarks made by Union Ministers and BJP MPs Nirmala Sitharaman and Piyush Goyal vis-a-vis Sonia Gandhi in the House on 28th July. pic.twitter.com/3KbQxtPche
— ANI (@ANI) July 29, 2022
In his letter, Mallikarjun Kharge said, “I wish to draw your kind attention to a matter of grave procedural Irregularity. Yesterday, i.e. 28 July 2022, at about 11:10 hrs Smt Nirmala Sitharaman raised the matter with regard to the usage of a term by the Leader of Indian National Congress In Lok Sabha in regard to Hon’ble President of India, and in this context, she inter alia stated “I demand an apology from the President of the Congress Party, who, herself being a woman, has allowed her leader in the Lok Sabha to speak insultingly about our Rashtrapati. Shrimati Sonia Gandhi should come before the nation and apologize to the Rashtrapati and also to the entire country for the insult that her own leader in the Lok Sabha has…(done). I demand an apology from Shrimati Sonia Gandhi. Thereafter when the House reassembled at 12:00 hrs, Leader of the House Shri Piyush Goyal inter alia stated Congress President should apologize in this matter.”
Kharge stated that it has been a tradition of the house that reflections or critical remarks should not be made on the other House or members of the other House. Supporting this thing, he further said in his letter to the Chairman, “In this regard, wish to draw your attention to the ruling made by Shri R. Venkataraman the-then Hon’ble Chairman of Rajya Sabha on 15 April 1987 wherein he inter alia observed ‘No person who is not a member of this House can be referred to in the House in a derogatory manner or in any other way affecting his reputation.’ In fact, even a Question of Privilege cannot be raised directly in one House against the members of the other House.”
Kharge added, “In this regard, a procedure has been laid down based on a report of the Joint Sitting of Committees of Privileges of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha which was presented to both Houses on 23 August 1954 and later adopted by the Houses in December 1954. As per this procedure, when a question of breach of privilege or contempt of the House is raised in either of the House in which a member, officer, or servant of the other House is involved, the procedure followed is that the Presiding Officer of the House in which the question of privilege is raised refers the case to the Presiding Officer of the other House.”
Mallikarjun Kharge further wrote in his letter that mentioning and making remarks in regard to a member of the Lower House in the Upper House is a gross violation of the time-honored conventions. Concluding his request, he urged the Chairman to expunge the remarks made by Nirmala Sitharaman and Piyush Goyal about Sonia Gandhi. Mallikarjun Kharge also pleaded that the ministers should furnish an apology for violating the sacrosanct conventions of the House.
Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury had called President Draupadi Murmu ‘Rashtrapatni’ which he later claimed was done by mistake. Both the houses of the parliament witnessed a heated uproar against this jibe and were adjourned.
