Mahua Moitra's reference to the death of a judicial officer triggered an uproar in the Lok Sabha on Friday with Union minister Kiren Rijiju accusing her of raising a matter settled by the Supreme Court and warning of "appropriate parliamentary action".
Participating in a debate on 75 years of the Indian Constitution, Moitra made passing but contentious remarks on the death of the judicial officer.
The House was adjourned briefly twice because of the noise over the issue and the discussion continued when Speaker Om Birla said that he had requested her to verify the claims. He assured opposition members that he will consider their reservations over Rijiju's language, described as "threatening" to a woman MP.
The first BJP member Nishikant Dubey to raise the issue after the conclusion of the speech of Moitra.
Dubey accused Moitra of making an insinuation about the judicial officer's death.
Later in a post on X, Moitra said all those reporting that "Parliament Affairs Minister warned me - it is he who will face action for threatening me! His remarks to be deleted- not mine!" Rijiju said the case of the judicial officer's death is settled and the TMC MP's remarks were very serious. There is no question of any link or interference, he added.
"We will take appropriate parliamentary action. You cannot escape. You are setting a very wrong precedent," the parliamentary affairs minister said.
Otherwise, any member will make similar allegations, he added.
When the House reconvened after two adjournments, senior opposition members, TMC's Saugata Roy and Congress K C Venugopal protested at Rijiju's words stating that the Speaker is the one who represents the Lok Sabha.
The MPs stated that the ruling party could have resorted to proper rules to call for action, if at all they felt Moitra's speech warranted it.
Addressing Birla, Venugopal said, "You are the custodian. You have the powers to delete, expunge. The parliamentary affairs minister took the entire custody of the House and he virtually threatened the lady member." Venugopal said the minister's responsibility is to maintain peace in the House but he instead "threatened" and intimidated a woman member. He demanded that Rijiju apologise or his remarks be expunged.
Roy accused Rijiju of making a "brazen effort" to threaten Moitra.
The Speaker lamented members engaging in personal allegations and counter-allegations, and asked them to have a constructive debate over issues related to the Constitution.
Birla said he has asked Moitra to authenticate her remarks. He said he will look into what the minister has said and will delete, if needed.
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