145;Privileges panel should have decided146;

Legal eagles feel it was right to expel the MPs involved in the cash-for-questions scandal but say the procedure followed must be impeccable...

Legal eagles feel it was right to expel the MPs involved in the cash-for-questions scandal but say the procedure followed must be impeccable.

They feel the matter must be referred to the Privileges Committee of Parliament and not just the Ethics Committee.

In a separate note attached to the Ethics Committee report, Sushma Swaraj has said she agrees Chatrapal Singh Lodha, the BJP Rajya Sabha MP from Orissa, has crossed the 8220;lakshman rekha8221; of 8220;parliamentary ethics8221;.

But since the law is silent on procedure, Swaraj has suggested the Supreme Court8217;s opinion be sought.

She referred to two cases that offer conflicting opinions: in 1977, Punjab and Haryana High Court ruled in the Hardwari Lal case that nobody could reduce an MP8217;s tenure as there was no constitutional provision to do so.

But a Madhya Pradesh High Court ruling said expulsion was a matter of privilege and the court would stand by the action if an MP was to be expelled by the Privileges Committee.

Rajya Sabha MP Ram Jethmalani, who subscribes to the former view, said the Constitution does not allow for shortening an Upper House member8217;s term. Taking part in a debate on the motion for expelling Lodha, noted criminal lawyer Jethmalani said: 8220;The term of a Rajya Sabha member is fixed and there is no provision in the Constitution that allows for shortening that term.8221;

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But unlike the present instance, where the expulsion occurred after the Ethics Committee took up the matter, the Privileges Committee was handling the issue in both previous cases.

8220;If an MP can be expelled for misconduct, then this can be used as a precedent for the state legislatures,8221; BJP MP Arun Jaitley said, adding that a simple misconduct can be used to expel elected representatives accused of other crimes.

There is agreement that the Privileges Committee should also be consulted and the MPs8217; conduct be shown to be a 8220;breach of privilege8221; rather than just misconduct.