RS chairman puts oath-taking of 37 newly-elected members on hold till lockdown is over

Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu has put on hold the oath-taking of 37 newly-elected members till the lockdown in view of the coronavirus outbreak is over.

The government has imposed a 21-day nationwide lockdown from March 25 to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Fifty-five vacancies are due to arise in the Rajya Sabha from 17 states between April 3 and 13, against which 37 members have already been elected unopposed.

"The newly-elected members of Rajya Sabha are advised to wait for subscribing oath or affirmation till the lockdown period is over," an advisory from the Rajya Sabha chairman to the newly-elected members said.

Naidu said in the context of the nationwide travel restrictions on account of the lockdown, the newly-elected members of the Upper House of Parliament were informed that there was no immediate requirement of taking oath.

Some of the prominent members elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha and waiting to take oath are -- Deputy Chairman Harivansh, Sharad Pawar, Ramdas Athawale, Premchand Gupta, B Kalita, Deepender Singh Hooda, Thambidurai, GK Vasan, Tiruchy Siva, K Keshava Rao, Dinesh Trivedi and Priyanka Chaturvedi.

While seven Rajya Sabha seats are falling vacant from Maharashtra, six are falling vacant from Tamil Nadu, five each from West Bengal and Bihar, four each from Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Odisha, three each from Assam, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, two each from Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Haryana and Telangana, and one each from Himachal Pradesh, Manipur and Meghalaya.

The newly-elected members of the Rajya Sabha are entitled to all perks from the day of notification of their election, officials said.

A member elected to the Rajya Sabha is entitled to make and subscribe the prescribed oath or affirmation and take his seat in the House only upon the commencement of his term of office under the relevant provisions of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.

However, the Constitution (Article 99) and Rule 5 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Rajya Sabha do not prescribe any time limit within which a newly-elected member has to subscribe the oath or affirmation.

A new member is, however, not entitled to sit, participate and vote in the House or in a committee until he has subscribed the oath or affirmation, according to rules.

"In view of the present lockdown in the country, neither the Rajya Sabha nor any of its Committees is likely to meet till the lockdown period is over," the advisory said.

It also said that according to the relevant provisions of the Salary, Allowances and Pension of Members of Parliament Act 1954, a newly-elected member is entitled to all facilities, perks and privileges that are available to the members of Parliament from the date of commencement of his term of office, which is the date of notification of his election to the Rajya Sabha by the Ministry of Law and Justice.