RS chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar rejects privilege notice against Amit Shah

Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar on Thursday rejected a privilege notice against Union Home Minister Amit Shah after he cited a 1948 government press release to authenticate his statement that a Congress leader was part of the management of Prime Minister's National Relief Fund.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh had moved the notice against Shah for "casting aspersions" on Congress Parliamentary Party head Sonia Gandhi.

Dhankhar said Shah had, after making certain remarks while replying to a debate on the Disaster Management Bill, 2024 in Rajya Sabha on March 25, agreed to authenticate his statement.

The minister, he said, cited a press statement issued by the Press Information Bureau of the Government of India on January 24, 1948, wherein the then prime minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru had announced starting of the PMNRF which was to be managed by a committee consisting of the Prime Minister, president of the Indian National Congress and certain other people.

"I have carefully gone through it. I find there has been no transgression," Dhankhar said, rejecting the breach of privilege notice.