New Delhi, Feb 9 () Underlining that the founding fathers of the Constitution empowered the elected members to speak in the Parliament without fear or favour, Congress leader in the Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, on Thursday wrote to Speaker Om Birla, urging him to revisit his decision to expunge portions of Rahul Gandhi’s speech made during the Motion of Thanks to the President’s address.
“On February 7, our leader Rahul Gandhi spoke on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s address. In his speech, he had mentioned certain facts about the ongoing issues related to the Hindenburg report and the alleged involvement of Adani group of companies in manipulation of the stock market. He also posed some questions to the Prime Minister on the issue. Sir, in the incorrected debates published by the Secretary General, a major portion of the speech of Rahul Gandhi was removed in such a way that the whole speech became unintelligible,” Chowdhury said in the letter.
Highlighting the Constitution-guaranteed freedom of speech in the Parliament, Chowdhurt said that freedom of speech that is available to the members of Parliament under Article 105(1) is wider in amplitude than the Right to Freedom of Speech and Expression guaranteed under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution.
“Having conferred the freedom of speech to Parliamentarians, the Constitution emphasises the fact that the said freedom is absolute and unfettered. This unfettered power granted to the elected representatives, to my understanding, is due to the fact that the members serve the interest of the people of this country”, he pointed out.
“Article 105 of the Constitution confers immunity inter-alia in respect of ‘anything said in the Parliament’. The word ‘anything’ is of the widest importance and is equivalent to ‘everything’. This view has been supported by various judgements of the Supreme Court from time to time,” said the Congress leader.
Chowdhury said that in view of this and in the wider interest of the nation, the speech made by Rahul Gandhi should be published in totality as it serves a great public purpose.
“In view of the above, I request you to kindly revisit your decision to edit the speech of Rahul Gandhi,” he said.
avr/arm