MP to move privilege notice on free air tickets charge

Dismissing as 'baseless' allegations that a mining baron from Madhya Pradesh had paid for his flights, BJP Rajya Sabha MP Prabhat Jha today threatened to move breach of privilege notice in the House against two Income Tax officials for levelling the charge.

In a letter to Finance Minister P Chidambaram, he complained about the conduct of the two officials and sought action against them.

'Firstly, this report is completely baseless. It was published so that a BJP MP and party vice president get a bad name,' Jha said.

Insisting that as an MP he is entitled to 38 free air tickets every year and he still has a quota of around '40-50 tickets' left, Jha alleged that this wrong information about sponsored tickets has been leaked by the IT department at the behest of the UPA government to malign the BJP.

'There is a request to you that as we consider this a matter of breach of privilege of the MP and of Parliament, when we give a breach of privilege notice against the two officials to the Chairperson of the House for our protection, you stand as a protector,' Jha said in his letter to the FM.

The MP said he wants to personally meet him to share some important information about the two officials.

Media reports had alleged yesterday that a mining baron from Madhya Pradesh had paid for the air tickets of Jha and RSS Joint General Secretary Suresh Soni for several flights over a period of time.

Two Income Tax officials who were part of the team that raided the businessman for IT violations reportedly shared this information with the media.

Jha has also raised several questions in his letter to Chidambaram. He has sought to know if the Income Tax Department has the right 'to defame an MP or a citizen', whether if a paper with a coded message is recovered from some businessman's house, then on its basis information can be leaked to the media.

'I am deeply hurt by this event. You are requested to take action against the two officials,' Jha said.