Won't hesitate in suspending listed business for urgent matters: Dhankhar

RS chairman Dhankhar assured opposition parties that he would not hesitate to suspend the scheduled business of the House under Rule 267 even on a daily basis if the notices qualify on merit

Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar Tuesday assured the opposition parties that he would not hesitate to suspend the scheduled business of the House under Rule 267 even on a daily basis if the notices qualify on merit.

In the same breath Dhankhar, however, asserted that he would not invoke the rule even once during his entire tenure if notices are devoid of merit.

Under Rule 267 of Rajya Sabha's Rules of Procedures and Conduct of Business, a listed business of the day can be suspended to take up an urgent matter with the approval of the Chair.

The chairman noted that the demand for suspension of scheduled business of the day under Rule 267 and 'point of order' have become tools to disrupt proceedings.

Even on Tuesday, several notices under Rule 267 were made before the Chair but none were accepted. Among other issues, opposition members were demanding discussion on the India-China conflict in the House under Rule 267.

When the Chair announced that no notice had been accepted, several opposition members objected.

TMC MP Derek O'Brien cited several precedents when the Chair accepted notices under Rule 267 and suspended business of the day to take up the issues mentioned therein. He said four notices were accepted when Shankar Dayal Sharma was chairman, three under Bhairon Singh Shekhawat and four during Hamid Ansari's tenure.

However, the previous Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu did not accept even a single notice during his tenure, the TMC leader said.

"You can trust me, if there is an occasion to invoke (rule) 267 every day, I would not hesitate to invoke it and if there is no occasion to invoke it even once during my entire tenure I would not. It (notice) will be examined on its own merits," Dhankhar said.

Earlier, there were heated arguments between the BJP and opposition benches over remarks made by Congress president and Rajya Sabha MP Mallikarjun Kharge in Rajasthan's Alwar. The treasury benches were demanding an apology from Kharge for his remarks, but the Congress president refused.

The morning session also witnessed a walkout by the opposition which alleged the National Human Rights Commission only visits non-BJP-ruled states for investigations while skipping BJP-governed Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat.