Channi complained, know what is a privilege motion, can Parliament take action against the Prime Minister?

New Delhi: Charanjit Singh Channi, Congress MP from Jalandhar, Punjab, has urged the Prime Minister Narendra Modi Channi has complained of breach of privilege in the Lok Sabha against him/her. he/she has written a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and appealed to him/her to allow him/her to bring a privilege motion against the Prime Minister in the House. Channi says that some things from the speech of Union Minister and BJP MP from Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh Anurag Thakur were removed from the proceedings of the Lok Sabha, but the Prime Minister has also shared the removed words on his/her social media platform. Citing the rules of parliamentary proceedings, the Congress MP has said that the Prime Minister has violated the privilege by doing so. So the question is what will happen next?

Know rule number 222 of the Lok Sabha rules

In fact, a chapter in the rule book of Lok Sabha proceedings is related to privilege motion. Rule number 222 mentioned in the rule book states, ‘Any member, with the consent of the Lok Sabha Speaker, can bring a motion of breach of privilege against another member or the Lok Sabha or any committee.’ Rule 225 (1) states that if the Lok Sabha Speaker agrees with the notice of privilege motion under Rule 222, then he/she can allow the member giving the notice to bring the motion during the proceedings of the House. On his/her request, the member giving the notice can stand up on his/her seat and make a brief statement about the motion. But if the Lok Sabha Speaker rejects the notice and does not agree with the motion, then he/she can announce his/her decision from his/her seat in the House. While doing so, he/she can read the notice given by the member and at the end he/she can tell that it has been rejected.

Channi has given the notice, what will happen next?

Suppose what will happen if the Lok Sabha Speaker accepts Charanjit Singh Channi’s notice and allows him/her to move a privilege motion against Prime Minister Narendra Modi? Rule 225(1) says that if the Lok Sabha Speaker agrees with the things said in the notice, he/she can give permission to move the motion at any time. Rule 225(2) says that if objection is raised to the permission being granted, the Speaker can ask the members in favour of permission to stand up from their seats. If the number of such members is at least 25, the Speaker will say that the motion is allowed. If less than 25 members stand up, the Speaker will tell the House that the motion cannot be moved. Now Rule 226 says that if permission to move the motion is granted, the motion will be considered in the Lok Sabha and it will be decided whether the motion should be sent to the Privileges Committee to investigate the allegations.

What powers does the Privileges Committee have?

The Privileges Committee has a chairperson and 14 members. If the Privileges Committee receives a demand for investigation of the allegation against Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the basis of Charanjit Singh Channi’s proposal, then the committee has the responsibility to investigate and submit its report to the Lok Sabha Speaker. The committee will not only tell in the report whether Charanjit Singh Channi’s allegation is right or wrong but will also tell what action should be taken against Prime Minister Narendra Modi if the allegation is right. The committee can also tell in its report what method should be adopted to implement its recommendations.

Can Parliament punish the Prime Minister?

Actually, the Prime Minister is also a member of the Lok Sabha. Narendra Modi has been elected from Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency of Uttar Pradesh. The Prime Minister is the leader of the House in the Lok Sabha. The Prime Minister is also bound by the rules of procedure and functioning of the Lok Sabha. As the leader of the House, he/she gets some additional facilities as compared to other members, but he/she does not get any special exemption in case of breach of privilege. Therefore, the Parliament can also punish the Prime Minister for his/her unparliamentary conduct.