A bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud with Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra was informed by Chadha’s counsel that as the youngest member of the House, he had no problem in tendering apology.
On Friday, Raghav Chadha, a member of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), informed the Supreme Court that he would unconditionally apologize to Jagdeep Dhankhar, the chairman of the Rajya Sabha, for suggesting the names of five Rajya Sabha members for a Select Committee without their prior consent. This action had resulted in his expulsion from the house.
Chadha, who is the youngest member of the house, expressed no hesitation in offering the apology, stating that he had no intention of undermining the dignity of the house. In light of these circumstances, the Supreme Court recommended that the apology should be considered sympathetically, taking into account the specific details of the case.
“The youngest member of the august house, Raghav Chadha, will meet with the chairperson and extend an unconditional apology, which will be sympathetically evaluated in light of the facts and circumstances of the house, bearing in mind that he had no intention of undermining its dignity,” stated a bench consisting of Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud, Justices JB Pardiwala, and Manoj Misra in the order.
The case will be revisited after the Diwali break to receive an update from Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta and Attorney General R Venkataramani.
Chadha had filed a petition challenging his indefinite suspension from the Rajya Sabha, which was under consideration by the Supreme Court.
Chadha’s removal from the Upper House occurred on August 11 during proceedings before the Privileges Committee, based on the allegation that he had suggested the names of five Rajya Sabha members for a Select Committee without obtaining their consent. This suspension remained in effect during the proceedings.
Chadha argued that his suspension constituted a clear violation of the Constitution and the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Council of States (Rajya Sabha). He contended that there is an explicit prohibition on suspending a member for a duration longer than the remaining session.
His suspension had persisted since the final hour of this year’s Parliamentary Monsoon Session, and it prevented him from attending meetings of the Standing Committee on Finance and the Committee on Subordinate Legislation, which continued their work even when Parliament was not in session.
The Supreme Court had previously criticized Chadha’s ongoing suspension at a recent hearing in October. It considered the exclusion of a political opposition member from the house as a “serious matter” and questioned the Privileges Committee’s authority to issue an indefinite suspension order for an MP.
CJI Chandrachud had cautioned that such an indefinite suspension would adversely affect the constituents whose interests were not being represented. He reiterated the Court’s previous statement and emphasized that Dhankhar could form an opinion based on Chadha’s apology during the current hearing.
Shadan Farasat, Chadha’s advocate, noted that Chadha, as the youngest member of the House, had no hesitation in offering the unconditional apology.
