Congress leader Adhir Chowdhury heads to privileges committee to record statement amid Lok Sabha suspension

The parliamentary Privileges Committee is set to examine Chowdhury's statement related to his suspension and subsequently present a report to the House, with Sunil Singh, a BJP MP from Jharkhand, at the helm as the committee's chairman.

Senior Congress leader and Lok Sabha MP, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, left his New Delhi residence on Wednesday afternoon to record his statement before the Parliament's Privileges Committee. This move comes in connection with his suspension from the Lok Sabha following allegations of disruptive behavior.

Chowdhury was initially scheduled to provide his statement to the parliamentary panel at 12:30 pm. The suspension motion was tabled by Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi, who cited the Congress leader's disruptive conduct during the Monsoon Session when Prime Minister Narendra Modi and members of the Union cabinet were addressing the House.

The agenda of the Privileges Committee stated, "Oral evidence of Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, MP in connection with motion/resolution adopted by the House on 10 August 2023 leading to his suspension from the service of the House and referring the matter to the Committee of Privileges for further investigation and report to the House."

Following the resolution passed by a voice vote, the suspension of Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury from the Lower House is under the spotlight. The parliamentary Privileges Committee is set to examine Chowdhury's statement related to his suspension and subsequently present a report to the House, with Sunil Singh, a BJP MP from Jharkhand, at the helm as the committee's chairman.

Committee Chairman Sunil Singh stated, "The committee does not believe in taking maximum days in any case of suspension of MPs in the said matter. It will conduct the inquiry in a time-bound manner and submit the report at the earliest."