Congress slaps privilege motion against Modi for 'misleading' LS on Rafale

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his speech endorsed Defence Minister Sitharaman's claims, which contradicted the earlier replies of his Minister of State for Defence in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha

The Congress on Tuesday gave notices for breach of privilege against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Lok Sabha for "misleading" the House on the Rafale deal issue.

The notices were moved by Leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, Veerappa Moily, K V Thomas, Jyotiraditya Scindia and Rajiv Satav, sources said.

The notices were given over the statements made by Modi and Sitharaman in Lok Sabha during the debate on the no-confidence motion on July 20.

"The prime minister has along with the defence minister deliberately mislead the House, it is, therefore, requested that this notice of breach of privilege be accepted and referred to the privilege committee for further proceedings," the notice against the prime minister says.

The prime minister in his speech endorsed the defence minister's claims, which contradicted the reply of his Minister of State for Defence in Lok Sabha on November 18, 2016 and in Rajya Sabha on March 19, 2018, the notice says.

The prime minister's claim of transparency in the 2008 confidentiality agreement with France is factually incorrect, untrue, and deliberately made with the intention to mislead the House, according to the notice.

The prime minister and his cabinet, as per the Constitution, are collectively accountable to Parliament and through it to the people of the country, it says.

The minister had knowingly and intentionally misled Parliament by withholding the information that the government is obliged to reveal to Parliament, the notice against Sitharaman says.