Arun Jaitley stands by remark on ‘indirectly elected RS’, Mistry insists on privilege

Jaitley argued that 'if such comments were to be interpreted as a breach of privilege, free speech would be endangered.'

Arun Jaitley, Rajya Sabha members, Rajya Sabha members election, RS members election, Madhusudan Mistry, privilege motion, india news, nation news

Finance minister Arun Jaitley.

Facing a possible privilege motion, Arun Jaitley has stood by his remarks about the “directly elected Lok Sabha” and the “indirectly elected Rajya Sabha”. He has said his remarks were a “legitimate political comment” and not breach of privilege.

Jaitley, Leader of the Rajya Sabha, had said in May that the wisdom of the directly elected Lok Sabha is being questioned by indirectly elected Rajya Sabha over legislation. Congress MP Madhusudan Mistry moved the notice for a privilege motion on July 17 referring to a report in The Indian Express. After Jaitley’s reply, he has insisted the former be “reprimanded” for making such a statement in public. He has demanded the issue be handed over to the committee on privileges.

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In his reply to the secretariat, Jaitley said he has “full respect for the rights and wisdom of the members of the Rajya Sabha” and “shown no disrespect towards them.” He has added, “I have commented on the current state of affairs wherein legislation approval is becoming extremely challenging because many bills being passed by one House are being questioned by the other House. It has also happened that where standing committees have approved legislation and the same has been approved by the Lok Sabha, the Rajya Sabha has constituted select committees to question the same. This has slowed down the process of legislation approval,” he has said.

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Asserting that as a citizen, an MP and a minister he has the right to comment on the current state of affairs, he has argued that “if such comments were to be interpreted as a breach of privilege, free speech would be endangered.”

In his response after Jaitley’s letter, Mistry has argued that the “issue of the status of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, their rights, privileges and authority settled long back by framers of the Constitution, both the Houses enjoy its freedom and are equal and enjoy the equal status before the Constitution.” He has quoted rules and procedures to back his argument.

“The statement… puts the Rajya Sabha as inferior to the Lok Sabha and creates an impression in the minds of the people in public, also in media that Rajya Sabha has no authority, whatsoever, to question the legislation, the proceedings independently. It reflects as if Rajya Sabha must abide by whatever transpires in the Lok Sabha and has to just put a seal on it. This is the impression that the statement of the Leader of the House creates, in the mind of the people. I feel very strongly that the Leader of the House has said this deliberately and wilfully, or may be partly under the pressure of their party’s leader…”

Mistry has said that if no action is taken then “it may send a message to the people outside that those who are occupying high positions within the Rajya Sabha can get away with anything they say…”

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