Disrupting parliamentary proceedings is contempt of House, can't be privilege, says VP Naidu

Vice President Venkaiah Naidu said on Saturday that disruption of proceedings clearly amount to contempt of the House, by the logic of which disruption cannot be claimed as a privilege by errant members.

New Delhi:Vice President Venkaiah Naidu said on Saturday that disruption of proceedings clearly amount to contempt of the House, by the logic of which disruption cannot be claimed as a privilege by errant members. The statement from the Vice President came in the backdrop of disruptions in Parliament by the Opposition leaders during the last Monsoon session.

While addressing the Ram Jethmalani Memorial lecture in New Delhi, he said, "Disruption of proceedings clearly amount to contempt of the House, by the logic of which disruption cannot be claimed as a privilege by errant members." Naidu said the ruckus is still fresh in the minds of people.

We need to understand why the disruption in our legislature, including in Parliament, is a matter of serious concern, he said. "Legislatures are meant to make laws for the people and the country with the members effectively articulating the concerns and aspirations of the people by deliberating on various issues of wider public concerns besides ensuring the accountability of the executive to the legislature.

Ensuring the accountability of the executive to the legislature is possible when there is a debate and discussion. The legislature has to function on the behalf of the people and for the people. They are supposed to be productive, not disruptive or obstructive or destructive."

He also said that the productivity of the Rajya Sabha between 1978 and 1996 has been more than 100 per cent. He also pointed that the productivity of Rajya Sabha from 1997-till now has been clocked 100 per cent only in two years. In 1998 and 2009, the productivity of the Upper house was 100 per cent.

"The productivity of Rajya Sabha between 2004 and 2014 has been about 78 per cent and since then it has come down to 65 per cent. The productivity of the last 11 sessions has been 66.50 per cent. Four of these 11 sessions have hovered between 6 per cent and 29 per cent. More than, two-thirds of the last 11 sessions have been badly hit by disruptions," the vice president, who is also the chairman of Rajya Sabha Chairman, said.

During 2018, the Rajya Sabha has recorded the lowest ever annual productivity of 35.75 per cent, he added. Naidu said during the last monsoon session, the House has lost more than 70 per cent of the scheduled time, including 77 per cent of valuable question hour time.

ANI