The determination of the Rajya Sabha Secretariat to not admit amendments on the Pegasus spyware and adware snooping situation moved by the members to the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address has triggered a political controversy. The CPM has now written to Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu expressing displeasure and in search of a ruling on it.
In his letter to Naidu, CPM chief in Rajya Sabha Elamaram Kareem stated the choice to disallow amendments proposed by him and another members on the Pegasus situation and administration of Covid by the Secretariat “could create an impression among the public that the Rajya Sabha Secretariat deliberately excluded the amendments which deal with incidents that could expose the Union Government”.
Besides Kareem and his celebration colleagues, John Brittas and V Sivadasan, one of many ten amendments proposed by Congress’s Shakti Singh Gohil too was relating to the Pegasus row.
“This unilateral action is completely undemocratic and unethical,” he stated within the letter. “I would like to express my objection over the way in which some of the amendments proposed by me under Rule 16 in the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Council of States — on the Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address — have been disallowed by the Rajya Sabha Secretariat,” he wrote.
Kareem stated there was an instruction that solely 10 amendments from a member can be thought of on the Motion of Thanks. “I had submitted 10 amendments mentioning many drawbacks of the government which were not mentioned in the President’s Address. But unfortunately, only eight amendments among these are included in the list of admitted amendments,” he stated.
“The disallowed amendments are those mentioning the Pegasus issue and the failure of the Union government in effectively dealing with the pandemic and formulating a comprehensive vaccine policy. It is understood that many other members are also having the same issue where amendments on these subjects were disallowed categorically,” he stated.
He stated it was “quite unfortunate and condemnable that such a decision has been taken violating the basic right of a Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha). These amendments reflect the concerns of the people and being their representative, it is our duty to raise these on the floor of the House. It is quite unfortunate and unruly to exclude amendments unilaterally”.
Kareem argued, “Nowhere in the list of admitted amendments can we find the word Pegasus or a sentence regarding the state-sponsored illegal surveillance over the people. Points that could expose the Union government regarding their failure in the management of the pandemic are also excluded. It is the House to decide whether these amendments are to be considered or not. We can debate and discuss these on the floor of the House. It can always be voted and rejected if the House decides these points are not worthy to be considered.”
“It isn’t a proper method to disallow the proposed amendments earlier than the House might even think about the identical. So, I request a ruling from the Chair that in what method and on what grounds the Secretariat ought to think about or disallow the set of amendments proposed by a member,” he stated.
Quoting Rule 16 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business within the Council of States, he additional stated, “Amendments on the Motion of Thanks are to be moved in such form ‘as may be considered appropriate by the Chairman’. So, it is the discretion of the Chair whether to admit or disallow amendments. But for that also, there should be certain grounds on which the decision is taken.”
Interestingly, the Lok Sabha has admitted amendments proposed by members associated to the snooping situation. “Only in Rajya Sabha this categorical exclusion has happened. So, the Upper House cannot escape from its responsibility to maintain transparency in revealing the reason for this exclusion,” he stated.
Kareem instructed The Indian Express that he and his celebration colleagues Brittas and Sivadasan had given comparable amendments. Brittas and Sivadasan weren’t current within the House when the amendments had been moved Wednesday.
The modification proposed by Kareem on Pegasus learn: “That on the finish of the Motion, the next be added, specifically – But remorse that the Address doesn’t point out about: the federal government of India’s engagement with the Israeli agency, NSO, and the state -sponsored unlawful surveillance over lots of of journalists, activists, Opposition politicians, authorities officers, enterprise executives and even judges of the apex courtroom utilizing the Pegasus spyware and adware.”
On Covid, the modification stated, “But regret that the Address does not mention about: Failure of the government in handling the Covid 19 pandemic, the unfortunate incident of floating of dead bodies in the holy rivers and the failure of the government in formulating an effective vaccine policy to ensure free vaccination for all citizens and to ensure adequate supply of vaccines to all states.”
The modification proposed by Gohil stated: “But regret that the Address does not mention when and why the government bought Pegasus software and how much money was spent on it.”
,
With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
