The uneasy relationship that Opposition parties share with Rajya Sabha Chairman and Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar is set to come to a head as the INDIA bloc parties have decided to submit a notice to move a no-confidence or impeachment resolution against him. The Opposition parties do not have the numbers in the House to ensure Dhankhar’s impeachment as Vice-President but are contemplating the move “very soon” as a political signal.

Sources said MPs of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Samajwadi Party (SP) — parties that have not been attending the Congress-led protests outside Parliament on the Adani issue — have also signed the notice under Article 67(b) of the Constitution. This is the second such attempt by the Opposition parties this year. The resolution, however, should be moved with at least 14 days’ notice. The Winter Session of Parliament ends on December 20.

According to 67(b), “a Vice-President may be removed from his office by a resolution of the Council of States passed by the majority of all the then members of the Council and agreed to by the House of the People; but no resolution for the purpose of this clause shall be moved unless at least fourteen days’ notice has been given of the intention to move the resolution.”

A senior Opposition leader told The Indian Express, “Leave aside technicalities (like 14 days’ notice), leave aside the fact that we in the Opposition don’t have the numbers … a message has to go to the BJP they cannot ruin Parliament like this. We are fighting to save Parliament democracy.” Asked when the Opposition was planning to submit the notice, another senior leader said “very soon”.

This government is murdering Parliament,” said TMC’s Deputy Leader in the Rajya Sabha Sagarika Ghose. “They are scared because they do not have the answers to issues affecting common people. The BJP and the government are misusing high constitutional offices and making them subservient to executive power. The Opposition does not have the numbers in the Rajya Sabha, but this is a fight against all those who want to ruin our Parliamentary system. At stake is the integrity of our parliamentary democracy itself and the solemn constitutional rights of every representative of the people.”

The INDIA bloc parties together have 103 members in the House plus the support of Independent MP Kapil Sibal. The Opposition parties, which have been accusing Dhankhar of partisanship for some time, have been mulling submitting a notice for bringing an impeachment resolution since the last session.

They were also upset over Dhankhar naming Congress MP Abhishek Singhvi last week in the context of recovery of what he called a “wad of currency notes from the seat allotted to him”.

Sources in the Opposition bloc said the opportunity given by the Chair to some of the ruling party members to raise the issue of alleged Congress links with a forum that is said to have received funds from billionaire investor George Soros further upset the Congress and prompted it to revive the move. Leaders of Opposition parties claimed they had collected the signatures required from all INDIA bloc parties for giving the notice.

No precedent

While there is no precedence of a no-confidence or impeachment resolution being moved against the Rajya Sabha Chairman, the Opposition in 2020 submitted a no-confidence resolution against Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh. The move followed an uproar in the House over his decision to extend the Session beyond the scheduled 1 pm, overruling Opposition pleas to continue discussions on the contentious farm Bills the next day.

Article 90 of the Constitution deals with the “Vacation and resignation of, and removal from, the office of Deputy Chairman”.

The Opposition resolution at the time said, “The Deputy Chairman has violated all the canons of law, procedure, parliamentary procedures, practices and fair play. Today, the Deputy Chairman did not allow points of order to be raised, did not allow large numbers of members of Rajya Sabha from diverse political parties opposing the anti-farmer Bill…even to speak.”

Among the parties that backed the resolution, which was drafted by lawyer-MPs Abhishek Singhvi and K T S Tulsi, were the Congress, TMC, DMK, CPM, CPI, RJD, AAP, TRS, SP, IUML, and Kerala Congress (M).

The Opposition move was then described as “unprecedented” by Parliament veterans. Moving the motion against Harivansh in 2020, the Opposition had said: “Appropriate precedents in this regard are available in several treatises, including the ‘Practice and Procedure of Parliament by M N Kaul and S L Shakdher’ seventh edition … and Article 90 of the Constitution.”

The precedents cited from the book by the Opposition included resolutions moved against the first Lok Sabha Speaker, G V Mavalankar, in 1951, Speaker Sardar Hukam Singh in 1966, and Speaker Balram Jakhar in 1987. The resolution against Mavalankar came up for discussion and was negated by the House. The other two resolutions were also discussed and negated by the House.

Source: indianexpress