Dhankhar: Hit-and-run speeches and personal attacks by MPs concerning

He expressed concern over some MPs adopting a “hit and run strategy”. “You come, make a point, leave, don’t listen to others, go and give a byte. There can be no greater divisive activity than this,” he said.

He said it was not as per Parliamentary practice to ignore the point of view of others. He added that there was a growing tendency of MPs to make personal attacks instead of engaging on issues. Speaking about the frequent disruptions seen in the House, he said: “There can be no greater danger to democracy than imparting an impression that disturbance and disruption are political weapons to score political mileage at the cost of the prestige of Parliament and the nation.”

Rejecting allegations of bias towards a particular side, Dhankhar said he was biased towards the Constitution and the law.

Giving the example of the suspension of Aam Aadmi Party MP Raghav Chadha last year, Dhankhar said Parliament was supreme when it came to its procedure, though Chadha had moved court against the suspension. Chadha was suspended on August 11 for breach of privilege for not taking consent of some MPs before giving their names as members of a select committee. He moved the Supreme Court and the suspension was eventually revoked by the Rajya Sabha in December.

“Parliament is supreme for its procedure, for its proceedings. Any proceeding in the House, in the Parliament is beyond review, either of the executive or any other authority…Mr Chadha was convicted, he was sentenced for a misconduct which I could not countenance because that was outrageous to the rules,” Dhankhar said.