Mahua Moitra, the leader of the Trinamool Congress
Mahua Moitra, the leader of the Trinamool Congress, filed a plea challenging her expulsion from the Lower House, but the Lok Sabha secretariat informed the Supreme Court that her plea was “not maintainable” and did not meet the requirements for judicial review of legislative action that are allowed under the Constitution.
The Lok Sabha secretariat stated in a counter-affidavit submitted to the supreme court that Article 122 of the Constitution outlines a framework in which the Parliament is sovereign over its internal proceedings and may exercise its internal functions and powers without judicial intervention in the first instance.
The Constitution’s Article 105, which addresses the authority, privileges, and other matters of the Houses of Parliament, as well as their members and committees, was mentioned.
“The present writ petition is not maintainable in light of Article 105 and Article 122 of the Constitution of India. The present petition does not satisfy the threshold of judicial review of legislative action that is permissible under the scheme of the Constitution of India,” the affidavit said.
“As such, proceedings of the Parliament (and its constituents) cannot be called into question alleging any irregularity of procedure and the House of the People is the sole judge of the lawfulness of proceedings before it,” it said. A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta heard Moitra’s plea on Monday and announced that it would be heard the week of May 6.
The Lok Sabha secretariat stated in its affidavit that there is no connection between the right to continue as an elected member of parliament and any of the rights outlined in Part III of the Constitution.
“The present petition under Article 32 of the Constitution of India seeking to enforce allegedly, the fundamental rights of a Member of the House, in respect of internal proceedings conducted by the House and the member’s expulsion, is beyond the scope of judicial review, and is not maintainable,” it said.
On December 8, of last year, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi moved a motion to remove TMC MP Moitra from the House for “unethical conduct” following a contentious debate in the Lok Sabha over the ethics panel report, during which Moitra was not permitted to speak. A voice vote approved the motion.
The ethics committee found Moitra guilty of “unethical conduct” and contempt of the House because, according to Joshi, she had shared her user ID and password for the Lok Sabha members’ portal with unauthorized individuals, which had a devastating effect on national security.
In its affidavit, the Lok Sabha secretariat said sharing credentials to the login portal can be susceptible to potential national security hazards and “can not only render the system of the Lok Sabha to cyber attacks, and potentially disable the system, but can also potentially cripple the functioning of the Parliament of India”.
“These are valid concerns of national security as well as the dignity and independence of Parliamentary functioning,” it said.
It claimed Moitra has incorrectly contended that the right to vote of people from her constituency was being thwarted by the act of her expulsion.
On January 3, the apex court had sought a reply from the Lok Sabha secretary general on Moitra’s petition challenging her expulsion.
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