Indefinite suspension: SC asks AAP MP Raghav Chadha to tender unconditional apology to RS chairperson Dhankhar

The CJI said the lawmaker will have to meet the Rajya Sabha chairperson to tender an unconditional apology on the issue. The vice president, in turn, may take a sympathetic view of the entire matter and take further steps in this regard.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday told AAP MP Raghav Chadha to tender an unconditional apology to Rajya Sabha chairperson Jagdeep Dhankhar, saying the Vice-President would take a sympathetic view of the matter related to the lawmaker's indefinite suspension from the Upper House.

A bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra said Chadha will have to meet the Rajya Sabha chairperson, either in his chamber or his house, to tender an unconditional apology on the issue. The vice president, in turn, may take a compassionate view of the entire matter and take further steps in this regard.

"Last time, we have said he was tendering an apology to the chairperson, a very distinguished senior functionary, perhaps, he may take an objective view," the bench said.

The bench also said he has already apologised a number of times.

"We are trying a way forward," the bench said, after noting he is the youngest and first-time member.

Chadha's counsel Shadan Farasat said he is the youngest member in the House of elders.

"He doesn't mind tendering an apology. Even in his letter to the Privilege Committee, he had sought personal apology from the chairperson," the counsel said.

However, this should be without prejudice to the legal arguments, he added.

The court asked Attorney General R Venkataramani to apprise it of the developments in the matter after the Diwali vacation.

Chadha was suspended from the Parliament's Upper House on August 11 for “gross violation of rule, misconduct, defiant attitude and contemptuous conduct".

The action against him came in response to complaints submitted by four MPs Sasmit Patra, S Phangnon Konyak, M Thambidurai and Narhari Amin. The MPs accused him of including their names on a motion without their consent, and a complaint was lodged before Jagdeep Dhankar, the Vice President and Rajya Sabha chairman. Their names were allegedly added by Chadha on a motion seeking the constitution of a select committee to study the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2023.

In a writ petition, Chadha claimed the indefinite suspension beyond the Monsoon session is on the face of it "illegal, manifestly arbitrary, unconstitutional, and erosive of the rights of effective representation to the people of Punjab."