Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar on Wednesday rejected Opposition Leader Mallikarjun Kharge’s March 13 ‘point of order’ against Union minister Piyush Goyal‘s statement, condemning Rahul Gandhi‘s UK remarks as an attack on Indian democracy and demanding his apology. Rejecting Kharge’s ‘point of order’ that objected to the minister making statements in the Rajya Sabha about a member of the Lok Sabha and claimed that Goyal’s remarks about Gandhi were defamatory, Dhankar ruled ‘no issue or individual was beyond the purview of Rajya Sabha discussion.

“I am of the firm view that there can be no issue or individual beyond the purview of discussion in the Rajya Sabha and the same is exclusively subject to regulation by the House and the Chairman. The two precedents relied upon by the Hon’ble Leader of Opposition have no bearing on the issue being determined herein. Further, the authenticated record made available by the Leader of House, Shri Piyush Goyal, bears out that his demand of apology on the overseas statements made by a senior leader of Opposition is factually premised and does not graduate to making ‘allegation of a defamatory or incriminatory nature’. The documentation submitted by Leader of the House, as per directive, bears out his assertions imparted in Rajya Sabha on March 13, 2023, same being in consonance with fact situation”, Chairman Dhankar observed. “In view of categorical and firm constitutional prescriptions, I cannot persuade myself to sustain the point of order raised by the Hon’ble Leader of the Opposition Shri Mallikarjun Kharge and the same is hereby declined”, he ruled .

He said, “The Leader of the House Shri Piyush Goyal, as directed, has authenticated the assertions made by him in the Rajya Sabha on March 13, 2023, that led to raising of Point of Order by Hon’ble Leader of Opposition Shri Mallikarjun Kharge… Any curtailment or qualification of the constitutional privilege of freedom of expression, of a Member of the Parliament in the Rajya Sabha will seriously compromise and impede blossoming of democratic values…”

Kharge protested against the ruling in a letter to the RS chairman. He said that it had set a “problematic precedent”. Presiding officers were expected to be fair and should not ‘show loyalty’ to the ruling party, he contended.