Page 43 - Rajya Sabha

AAP MP Sanjay Singh suspended from Rajya Sabha for Monsoon session

The Rajya Sabha on Monday suspended AAP MP Sanjay Singh for the remaining duration of the Monsoon session for his "unruly behaviour". Leader of the House Piyush Goyal moved the motion to suspend him, which was adopted by the House by voice vote. Before the motion was moved, Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar named Singh for his "unruly behaviour" and cautioned him. Soon after suspending Singh, the chairman adjourned the proceedings till 2 PM as opposition members continued to create uproar in the House. They were demanding a statement from the prime minister in the House on the Manipur issue.

Rajya Sabha adjourned till 12 noon after spat between Chairman, Derek

The Rajya Sabha proceedings were adjourned for almost an hour on Monday following heated exchanges between Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar and TMC's Derek O'Brien over the chair not mentioning the party affiliations of opposition members seeking a discussion on the Manipur issue. Dhankhar read out the names of the MPs and the political parties they are affiliated with while detailing the 11 notices received under rule 176, mostly from treasury benches, seeking short-duration discussions over violence in states ranging from Rajasthan to Manipur. But when he started to read out the notices received under rule 267 from MPs of opposition parties who sought to set aside the business of the day to take up the Manipur issue, he did not mention the party affiliations. O'Brien asked the chairman to also mention the parties of the MPs who had given notices under rule 267, just like he did for MPs giving notices under rule 176. Dhankhar asked O'Brien to take his seat but the TMC leader was not in a

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Nearly 26,000 cases disposed of by Supreme Court so far: Law Minister

The Supreme Court has disposed of nearly 26,000 cases so far this year while the 25 high courts have settled over 5.23 lakh cases, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal informed Lok Sabha on Friday. On Thursday, the minister had informed Rajya Sabha that cases pending in various courts in the country had crossed the five-crore mark. Citing data from the Supreme Court's Integrated Case Management Information System (ICMIS), Meghwal, in a written reply in Lok Sabha, said the top court had settled 25,959 cases till July 15 this year. The 25 high courts disposed of 5,23,338 cases till July 17 this year, he said, citing National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG) data. Meghwal said the disposal of pending cases in courts is within the domain of the judiciary. "No time frame has been prescribed for disposal of various kinds of cases by the respective courts. The government has no direct role in disposal of cases in courts," he said. He said timely disposal of cases in courts depends on several factors

Rajya Sabha proceedings washed out over Manipur uproar, to meet on Monday

Rajya Sabha proceedings were on Friday washed out for the second day in a row amid uproar by the opposition over the Manipur situation and other issues. The house, which was adjourned in the morning session over the Manipur issue and the Opposition raising objections to the Chair expunging certain words from the record, witnessed uproarious scenes when it reassembled post-lunch. Soon after reassembling at 2:30 pm, Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar informed the members about the report of the business advisory committee (BAC) after its meeting held on Thursday and said it should be taken into account. This led to uproar in the house with several opposition members raising objections over the listing of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill along with the Forest Conservation Bill, saying they had already expressed their views against the proposed legislations during the BAC meeting. Amid the uproar and with most opposition members on their feet, the Chairman adjourned the

Rajya Sabha adjourned till 2.30 pm after uproar over Manipur violence

Rajya Sabha proceedings were on Friday adjourned in the pre-lunch session after an uproar over the violence in Manipur and the Chair expunging words from House proceedings. Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar adjourned proceedings till 2.30 pm as TMC's Derek O'Brien sought to raise a point of order over the expunging of certain words from the House proceedings on Thursday. The opening day of the Monsoon session of Parliament had witnessed heated exchanges over the ethnic violence in Manipur and a video of two women being paraded naked in the northeastern state. While the House proceedings were washed out in protests, Dhankhar had expunged references made by O'Brien seeking Prime Minister Narendra Modi's response to the situation in the state. On Friday, he sought to raise a point of order over the expunging of words. "Three words were expunged. Yesterday, (I had said) the prime minister should open his mouth on Manipur," he said, seeking to know if any of the words were not fit for ...

BJP charges oppn with not allowing discussion on Manipur in parliament

Even though the government was ready for a discussion on Manipur, the opposition disrupted Parliament proceedings and did now allow the debate to take place, the BJP charged on Thursday as it questioned the timing of the surfacing of a May 4 video of two women being paraded naked in the northeastern state. The BJP said that a discussion on the situation in Manipur would have sent out a "meaningful and positive" message to the people of the violence-hit state but the opposition parties did not let it happen because they felt that incidents of "misbehavior" with women in Congress-ruled states as well as the violence during the West Bengal panchayat elections may also come up. The BJP's charge came after both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha were adjourned for the day on the first day of Monsoon session amid slogan shouting and demands for a discussion on the situation in strife-torn Manipur. Even outside Parliament, opposition parties, including the Congress, the Aam Aadmi Party and the ...

Cases pending in courts cross 5-crore mark: Govt tells Rajya Sabha

Cases pending in various courts in the country have crossed the five-crore mark, Rajya Sabha was informed on Thursday. In a written reply, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said over 5.02 crore cases were pending in various courts -- the Supreme Court, the 25 high courts and subordinate courts. "As per data retrieved from the Integrated Case Management System (ICMIS) by the Supreme Court of India, as on July 1, there are 69,766 cases pending in the Supreme Court. "Total number of cases pending in the high courts and the district and subordinate courts as on July 14 are 60,62,953 and 4,41,35,357 respectively, as per information made available on National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG)," he said. Pendency of cases in courts can be attributed to several factors, including non-availability of adequate number of judges and judicial officers, supporting court staff and physical infrastructure, complexity of facts involved, nature of evidence, cooperation of stakeholders such as the Bar, ...

Dhankhar reconstitutes RS panel of vice chairpersons, half of them women

In a historic move, Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar on Thursday reconstituted the panel of vice chairpersons of the Parliament's Upper House with half of them being women. The House members are informed that the panel of vice chairpersons has been reconstituted with effect from July 17, 2023, he said. Among the Rajya Sabha members who are the new vice-chairpersons are P T Usha, S Phangnon Konyak, Fauzia Khan, Sulata Deo, V Vijaysai Reddy, Ghanshyam Tiwari, L Hanumanthaiah and Sukhendu Sekhar Ray. "Members will be happy to note that 50 per cent of vice-chairpersons happen to be women," the chairman said. Incidentally, all the women members nominated to the panel are first term parliamentarians and Konyak is the first ever woman from Nagaland to be elected as a member of the Rajya Sabha. "This is the first time in the history of the Upper House that equal representation has been given to women members in the panel of Vice Chairpersons," an official statement from the vice ...

Rajya Sabha chair goes digital from this monsoon session of Parliament

As the Rajya Sabha goes fully digital on Thursday, officials said, it resulted in hour-long separate meetings conducted with several officials from various wings of the RS Secretariat

Rajya Sabha adjourned for the day amid opposition uproar over Manipur issue

Rajya Sabha proceedings were adjourned for the day amid the opposition's demand for a discussion over the Manipur issue. When the Upper House of Parliament, which was also adjourned in the morning session, resumed, Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar asked for listed papers to be laid. Opposition members started raising slogans when Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur moved to introduce the Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill, 2023, to further amend the Cinematograph Act, 1952. Leader of Opposition in the House Mallikarjun Kharge said he has been demanding a discussion on the Manipur issue since morning but has not been allowed one. Dhankhar asked opposition members to maintain decorum. But continuous sloganeering, forced him to adjourn the House for the day.

Dhankhar reconstitutes RS panel of vice-chairpersons, half of them women

Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar on Thursday reconstituted the panel of vice-chairpersons of Parliament's upper house with half of them being women. The House members are informed that the panel of vice chairpersons has been reconstituted with effect from July 17, 2023, he said. Among the Rajya Sabha members who are the new vice-chairpersons are P T Usha, S Phangnon Konyak, Fauzia Khan, Sulata Deo, V Vijaysai Reddy, Ghanshyam Tiwari, L Hanumanthaiah and Sukhendu Sekhar Ray. "Members will be happy to note that 50 per cent of vice-chairpersons happen to be women," the chairman said. As per Rajya Sabha rules, "The chairman shall, from time to time, nominate from amongst the members of the Council a panel of not more than six vice-chairmen, one of whom may preside over the Council in the absence of the chairman and the deputy chairman when so requested by the chairman, or in his absence, by the deputy chairman." A vice-chairperson nominated under sub-rule (1) shall hold office un

Rajya Sabha adjourned over oppn demand for discussion on Manipur situation

Rajya Sabha proceedings were adjourned till 2 PM on Thursday after opposition members created uproar demanding a discussion on the Manipur violence issue under Rule 267. Soon after the House met at 12 noon, Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar accepted eight notices by members for a short duration discussion under the rule. Leader of the House Piyush Goyal said the government has no objections and was ready for a discussion. When the chairman allowed the notices for a short duration discussion on Manipur, Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge raised objections and said all the business of the House be suspended first and their notices for a discussion on Manipur under Rule 267 be taken up. "How the Leader of the house suddenly gets up and says we are ready for a discussion. We have given notices under Rule 267 for suspending all other business of the House and then take this us. Let prime minister give statement and we will discuss," he told the chairman. Rule 267 of the Rajya Sabha pertai

RS chair calls floor leaders' meet ahead of Monsoon session rescheduled

Opposition parties are gearing up to take on the government on a range of issues as the Parliament goes into session in the Monsoon phase

EAM Jaishankar files Rajya Sabha nomination from Gujarat's Gandhinagar

The Election Commission of India (ECI) earlier announced the schedule for the election across 10 Rajya Sabha seats in Goa, Gujarat and West Bengal to be held on July 24

Derek O'Brien, Saket Gokhale among 6 candidates named by TMC for RS polls

The Trinamool Congress on Monday announced its candidates for the six Rajya Sabha seats in West Bengal that will go to polls later this month. Among these candidates were Derek O'Brien, Sukhendu Sekhar Ray and Dola Sen. O'Brien, an MP since 2011, is the TMC's leader in Rajya Sabha, while Ray who was first sent to the Upper House of Parliament in 2012 is the deputy chief whip, and Sen, a senior leader and trade unionist, became an MP in 2017. The newcomers on the list were Bangla Sanskriti Mancha president Samirul Islam, TMC's Alipurduar district president Prakash Chik Baraik, and RTI activist and TMC spokesperson Saket Gokhale. Besides O'Brien, Ray and Sen, the tenures of Congress MP Pradip Bhattacharya, TMC's Assam leader Sushmita Dev and its Darjeeling leader Shanta Chhetri's ended, following which these six seats fell vacant. A seventh Rajya Sabha seat from West Bengal is also vacant after former Goa chief minister Luizinho Faleiro resigned as a TMC MP in April. A bypoll will be

Jaishankar arrives in Ahmedabad, to file nomination for Rajya Sabha polls

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has arrived here to file his nomination papers on Monday for the Rajya Sabha elections from Gujarat, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) official said. Gujarat BJP general secretary Pradeepsinh Vaghela on Sunday said Jaishankar, whose term ends on August 18 along with two other Rajya Sabha members from the state, is scheduled to file his nomination form at around noon on Monday. Jaishankar landed at the Ahmedabad airport on Sunday and was received by Gujarat minister Raghavji Patel, Ahmedabad Mayor Kirit Parmar and other BJP functionaries. While the BJP has not officially declared the names of candidates for the three Rajya Sabha seats for which the elections are scheduled to be held on July 24, Jaishankar's nomination was certain. The Congress on Friday said it would not field candidates for polls to the three Rajya Sabha seats from Gujarat as it did not have enough MLAs in the 182-member state Assembly. The BJP won a record 156 seats in the Guja

The political impact of Rahul Gandhi's legal woes

Going to jail is a rite of passage for politicians, and they tend to emerge stronger if the punishment is seen to be unfair

Jaishankar to file Rajya Sabha nomination from Gujarat's Gandhinagar on Mon

Election Commission said that 10 members from Goa, Gujarat and West Bengal are scheduled to retire in the months of July and August

Demand discussion on Manipur in Parliament: Cong MP writes to colleagues

Congress MP Pradyut Bordoloi has written to fellow legislators cutting across party lines in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, urging them to demand a discussion in Parliament on the ensuing crisis in Manipur and pursue legislative interventions seeking accountability from the Centre and the state government. Bordoloi, who is a Lok Sabha MP from Assam's Nowgong, said with the Monsoon Session of Parliament scheduled to begin on July 20, he has written to all his colleagues in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha across state and party lines, urging them to lend their voice to the demand for a discussion on the crisis in Manipur. "I am writing to you in the wake of devastating and escalating ethnic violence ensuing in the state of Manipur. Violence has gripped the Northeastern state since the 3rd of May 2023, and the situation in Manipur has deteriorated significantly over the past three months, with reports of widespread violence, human rights abuses, and loss of innocent lives," ...