Rajya Sabha disallows MPs’ amendment bids, Opposition asks why, how

In his letter to Naidu, CPM leader in Rajya Sabha Elamaram Kareem said the decision to disallow amendments proposed by him and some other members on the Pegasus issue and management 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 party colleagues, John Brittas and V Sivadasan, one of the ten amendments proposed by Congress’s Shakti Singh Gohil too was regarding the Pegasus row.

“This unilateral action is completely undemocratic and unethical,” he said in 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 said there was an instruction that only 10 amendments from a member will be considered 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 said.

“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 said.

He said 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 is not a right way to disallow the proposed amendments before the House could even consider the same. So, I request a ruling from the Chair that in what manner and on what grounds the Secretariat should consider or disallow the set of amendments proposed by a member,” he said.

Quoting Rule 16 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Council of States, he further said, “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 related to the snooping issue. “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 said.

Kareem told The Indian Express that he and his party colleagues Brittas and Sivadasan had given similar amendments. Brittas and Sivadasan were not present in the House when the amendments were moved Wednesday.

The amendment proposed by Kareem on Pegasus read: “That at the end of the Motion, the following be added, namely – But regret that the Address does not mention about: the government of India’s engagement with the Israeli firm, NSO, and the state-sponsored illegal surveillance over hundreds of journalists, activists, Opposition politicians, government officials, business executives and even judges of the apex court using the Pegasus spyware.”

On Covid, the amendment said, “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 amendment proposed by Gohil said: “But regret that the Address does not mention when and why the government bought Pegasus software and how much money was spent on it.”