New Delhi: Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar on Thursday rejected a privilege notice against Amit Shah after the home minister cited a 1948 govt release to authenticate his statement that a Congress leader was part of the management of the PM’s National Relief Fund.
In his ruling on Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh’s breach of privilege notice, Dhankhar said Shah did not commit any “transgression” and his statements during a debate on Tuesday were in “absolute adherence to truth”.
He went on to add that breach of privilege was invoked in haste to get traction in the media and asked the House Ethics Committee to lay down fresh guidelines on conduct of MPs on issues such as releasing communications with the chair or notices served.
Ramesh had moved the notice against Shah for “casting aspersions” on Congress Parliamentary Party chief Sonia Gandhi while replying to a debate on Disaster Management Bill in Rajya Sabha.
Dhankhar said when some members objected to his assertion, Shah agreed to authenticate his statement. The minister, he said, backed his statement by producing a Jan 24, 1948, release issued by Press Information Bureau on then PM Jawaharlal Nehru’s announcement of setting up PMNRF. The fund “will be managed by a committee consisting of the PM, the president of the Indian National Congress, the deputy PM and there are some other members”, he added.