AAP MP Raghav Chadha suspended from Rajya Sabha over alleged forgery

AAP MP Raghav Chadha was on Friday (August 11) suspended from Rajya Sabha for “gross violation of rule, misconduct, defiant attitude and contemptuous conduct”, pending a report by the privileges committee.

His suspension followed a motion moved by the Leader of House Piyush Goyal who sought action against the AAP leader for including names of four members of Upper House in a proposed select committee for the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2023.

The motion was passed by a voice vote.

Also read: False allegation of forgery against me, BJP trying to suppress my voice: Raghav Chadha 

Speaking at a press conference in Delhi Chadha on Friday (August 11) hit out at the BJP for accusing him of forging signatures of five MPs in a motion related to the Delhi services bill and said the party was trying to "suppress" his voice as he had "exposed" its "double standards".

A day before, Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar had referred complaints of four MPs, who accused Chadha of proposing their name for constitution of a Select Committee without their consent in violation of rules, to the privileges committee to examine and investigate the matter. Addressing a press conference, the AAP leader asserted that the allegations against him were "baseless" and said an MP can propose the name of any other member without their written consent or signature for a Select Committee.

“I will approach the Committee of Privileges and court of law against the BJP Lok Sabha members who levelled the false allegations of forgery against me,” Chadha said. “Any member can propose the name of any other member without a written consent of the member or signature,” the AAP MP said, showing the rule book at the press conference.

According to rules, neither a member's consent nor signature is required to propose his or her name for a Select Committee. Terming the allegations against him “baseless”, Chadha claimed that a “rumour” is being spread about him doing forgery. He asked how does the question of forgery arise when nobody's signature was taken and submitted.

A Rajya Sabha bulletin said the chairman had received complaints from MPs Sasmit Patra, S Phangnon Konyak, M Thambidurai and Narhari Amin, who alleged breach of privilege by Chadha “for inter-alia including their names without their consent, in violation of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business, in a motion on August 7”.

Chadha had proposed the constitution of a select committee to consider the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2023 and had included the names of the four MPs. Addressing the press conference, AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh alleged that the Modi government has started a new tradition of getting those members suspended from the House who speak against it. “Then, declare its dictatorship in the country. Why are you playing a drama about democracy?” Singh asked the government.

Also read: RS Chairman sends complaint against Raghav Chadha to privileges panel  

Hitting out at Home Minister Amit Shah, he said, “You should at least know that the name of any member can be proposed for the select committee by any other member of the House, and there is no need to have the member's signature.”

The AAP leader also accused Shah of lying on the floor of the House by terming as “fraud” the inclusion of the names of the five MPs. The home minister's sole objective is to get Chadha disqualified from the Rajya Sabha as was done in the case of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in the Lok Sabha, he alleged. “But, we are soldiers of Arvind Kejriwal. We will fight. And, if you disqualify Raghav Chadha by any means, he will come back after being re-elected,” Singh, who was suspended from the Upper House of Parliament during the Monsoon Session, asserted.

The session, which started on July 20, is scheduled to end on Friday.

(With agency inputs)