The scale of the present spate of suspensions of Opposition MPs from Parliament — 141 parliamentarians have faced action during this Winter Session itself — may be unprecedented, but suspensions from Parliament have a history of more than 60 years. The first parliamentarian to be suspended happens to be Godey Murahari, an independent Rajya Sabha MP from Uttar Pradesh. Murahari was suspended on September 3, 1962, for the remainder of the session over unruly behaviour. He refused to walk out and had to be physically removed by the Marshal of the House. Born on May 20, 1926, Murahari was a Rajya Sabha MP from 1962 to 1968, 1968 to 1974, and from 1974 to 1977. He was also deputy chairman of the Rajya Sabha from 1972 to 1977. Murahari was suspended for unruly conduct not once but twice. On July 25, 1966, he was suspended along with fellow MP Raj Narain from the Rajya Sabha for one week by two separate motions moved by Leader of the House M C Chagla and adopted by the House, as per PRS Legislative Research. Both refused to go out and were removed by Marshals. The next day, the Rajya Sabha chairperson expressed his concern over the incident and leaders of the parties expressed regret. Raj Narain who went on to defeat Indira Gandhi in 1977 — and on whose petition Justice Jagmohan Lal Sinha of Allahabad High Court disqualified her as MP — was suspended a second time from the Rajya Sabha on August 12, 1971, for the remainder of the session. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Om Mehta had moved the motion, which was adopted by the House. Raj Narain again refused to go out and was removed physically by a Marshal. In the Rajya Sabha, the House suspends a member after the Chairperson names him or her, and in the Lok Sabha, the Speaker has the power to suspend a member over unruly behaviour. In the Lok Sabha, 63 members were suspended in 1989 following a ruckus over the tabling of the Justice Thakkar Committee report on the assassination of Indira Gandhi. In 2015, 25 MPs were suspended from the Lok Sabha for unruly behaviour, with Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu reminding Congress MPs of the 1989 mass suspensions.
