A dozen opposition MPs, in a letter addressed to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, have claimed a serious breach of parliamentary code of conduct during the meetings of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2024. They have further accused the committee’s chairman, Jagdambika Pal, of managing the proceedings in a partial and biased manner.
In a letter addressed to the Speaker, the Opposition MPs requested his timely intervention. They also referenced a statement made on Monday by Anwar Manippady, former vice-president of Karnataka BJP and former head of the state minority commission. Manippady accused several Congress leaders, including the party president Mallikarjun Kharge, of being implicated in a land grabbing case, asserting that multiple breaches of the parliamentary code of conduct and procedural regulations occurred on October 14.
A number of Opposition MPs, including Gaurav Gogoi (Congress), A Raja (DMK), and Asaduddin Owaisi (AIMIM), walked out of the JPC meeting on Tuesday. They claimed that a member of BJP leaders made disparaging comments towards them.
In the letter, the Opposition lawmakers alleged that a note titled to be a presentation on the “Waqf Bill 2012 based on Karnataka Waqf Scam Report 2012” contained no observations on the Waqf Bill. Instead, it was full of politically motivated allegations against leaders of the Karnataka Congress, including Mallikarjun Kharge.
“Despite vehement protests by several committee members that Kharge occupies a constitutional position of high dignity and is not present in the meeting, the witness was allowed to speak by the Chairperson. Further, he refused to provide adequate time to committee members to lodge their protests,” the letter said.
Pal’s decision to allow the witness to continue speaking goes against the basic rules of procedure as outlined in Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha (MN Kaul and SL Shakdher), it added.
“We request your immediate intervention in the matter, and expect you to remind the Chairperson of the Committee of his duty to be bipartisan and uphold parliamentary norms,” the letter said.
