Vijender Gupta writes to Vidhan Sabha to clarify Rajya Sabha remark

Leader of the Opposition in the Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta has written to the Vidhan Sabha Secretariat that if his newspaper article favouring abolition of the Upper House of Parliament had unwittingly hurt the sentiments of Rajya Sabha member K.C. Tyagi, he had no hesitation in expressing his regret. In his reply to a notice by Speaker Ram Niwas Goel seeking an explanation from Mr Gupta following a communication from Rajya Sabha chairman Hamid Ansari to initiate necessary action against him, the BJP MLA claimed that the notice was bereft of any specific allegation on how his article amounted to a breach of privilege or contempt of the House.

In his privilege notice to Mr Ansari against Mr Gupta under Rule 188 of conduct of the business in the House, Mr Tyagi had held that the views expressed by the Delhi BJP legislator amounted to breach of privilege and contempt of the House. Following this, Mr Ansari in a written communication to the Assembly Speaker had said he was referring the matter to him for further necessary action as one House cannot claim or exercise any authority over members of the other House.

In his reply, Mr Gupta said that Mr Tyagi’s notice was misconceived, vague and questioned the legitimate concern raised by him as well as various other public spirited citizens. “I wish to submit with utmost humility at my command that deliberation, discussion and public debate on issues which reside in the basic structure of the constitutional freedom guaranteed to the citizens strike at the very heart of a democracy. Such a debate, therefore, should not be visited with such notices, especially if the same is based on empirical data.”

Mr Gupta said his article in a Hindi daily was a mere critique on the role of the Houses of the Parliament and a need for reforming the same.