The Rajya Sabha will take up the impeachment proceedings of Calcutta High Court Judge Soumitra Sen in perhaps the first case of its kind in the history of the Upper House. The controversial judge has been held guilty on corruption charges by a panel appointed by Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari. The issue will be taken up on August 17, Parliament sources said.
Justice Ajay Kumar Tripathy ordered the issuing of notices to Ansari and the Secretary General of the Upper House after hearing a petition filed by Nishad challenging his termination as Rajya Sabha member. Justice Tripathy asked them to explain their stand on the matter and fixed May 14 as the next date of hearing of the case. The order was passed on Wednesday.
Rangarajan, 77, who will replace Suresh Tendulkar, gave his resignation to Rajya Sabha chairman Hamid Ansari, who has accepted it.
Suspended Janata Dal-United MP Upendra Kushwaha on Friday resigned from the party, slamming Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's alleged "autocratic" functioning in Bihar.
Accusing the government of not being serious in passing the bill for providing quota for Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes in promotions in government jobs, Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati threatened to take a 'tougher' stand, saying her Wednesday's 'outburst' in the Rajya Sabha was only 'the first step'.
Opposition National Democratic Alliance and estranged United Progressive Alliance ally Trinamool Congress on Friday criticised the decision to allow Foreign Direct Investment in multi-brand retail, saying government has surrendered to crony capitalism and feared that the policy will spell doom for farmers and small traders.
Justice Soumitra Sen of the Calcutta high court, who has been indicted by a judicial committee on an impeachment motion, has filed his reply to the Rajya Sabha, countering the charges against him.In his reply submitted on Thursday, Justice Sen is understood to have contended that he had done no wrong and there was no basis for the charges against him, on the basis of which he was found guilty by the committee set up by Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari.
The pandemonium in Parliament over corruption issue continued for the 11th day on Friday disrupting functioning, but members gave a break to their agitation to pay homage to the martyrs of Mumbai terror attacks on its second anniversary.
Come February 22, the Rajya Sabha will have new rules and procedures for the Question Hour. With the introduction of change of business rules, it is ensured that union ministers are made more accountable to answer their questions in the Upper House.
The meeting held on the eve of the resumption of the Budget session was convened by Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari and attended by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh along with senior members from various parties.
Questioning the impartiality of the parliamentary committee examining the Lokpal Bill, a leading citizens' forum has sought the reconstitution of the panel as a befitting response to unprecedented anti-corruption movement in our country.
Shumsher K Sheriff, who took over as secretary general of Rajya Sabha last month, was on Thursday introduced in the House by Chairman Hamid Ansari.
Despite disruptions over central rule in Uttarakhand and fresh revelations on the AugustaWestland chopper deal, the Rajya Sabha passed four bills and Lok Sabha cleared three.
Seventeen members, including new and re-elected ones, took oath in Rajya Sabha, which reassembled after a month-long break, on Thursday.
In further trouble for beleaguered Karnataka Chief Justice P D Dinakaran, a petition seeking impeachment proceedings against him was moved by as many as 76 Rajya Sabha members on Monday.
Decks were on Wednesday cleared for impeachment proceedings against Calcutta high court judge Soumitra Sen with a judicial committee set up by Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari finding him guilty of misappropriating "large sums" of funds and making false statement regarding it.
Soon after the Rajya Sabha met for the day, members from Bharatiya Janata Party, Janata Dal-United, Bahujan Samaj Party, All India Anna Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam and the Left parties were on their feet seeking a discussion on the issue.
Apparently exasperated over frequent disruptions, Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari has called an all-party meet on Monday to discuss possible changes in rules for smooth running of House.
Samajwadi Party disrupted the Question Hour in Rajya Sabha for the second day on Tuesday demanding implementation of Ranganath Misra Commission report, leading to adjournment of the House till noon.
Voting in the Rajya Sabha on the Women's Reservation Bill was deferred by a day on Monday.
Parliament was adjourned on Monday morning after condoling the death of 3 sitting members, including former Union minister Murli Deora.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday said in Rajya Sabha that "action has already started" for getting back black money belonging to Indians from Swiss banks.
Pradeep Gandhi, one of the 11 MPs expelled from Parliament after being found guilty in the cash-for-query scam in 2005, was seen standing next to Sachin after his swearing-in inside Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari's chamber and was prominently seen during the photo-op later.
Shiv Sena on Wednesday stalled the Question Hour in the Rajya Sabha briefly to demand an immediate discussion on the Maharashtra-Karnataka boundary dispute, leading to adjournment of the House for 15 minutes.
As soon as the House assembled for the day, SP members were up on their feet shouting slogans but Chairman Hamid Ansari asked the members to settle down as obituary references had to be made. The SP members raised slogans demanding arrest of Raj Thackeray and protection of the Constitution.
The BJP decided to register its protest against the manner in which, it says, he used an old rule to punish All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam member of Parliament Dr V Maithreyan on Thursday
"Baalu must resign. He and the Prime Minister's Office have misused powers for personal gains," Dr Maitreyan said. On Thursday, Dr Maitreyan was asked to leave the Rajya Sabha by Chairman Hamid Ansari after he sought the prime minister's response to charges against his Cabinet colleague Baalu favouring his sons' firms.
Business in Rajya Sabha was on Thursday deadlocked with the opposition objecting to All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader V Maitreyan being asked to leave the House after he sought the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's response to charges against his cabinet colleague T R Baalu for favouring his sons' firms.
Nishad had campaigned for the Rashtriya Janata Dal in the assembly elections in Bihar in 2005 despite being a member of the BJP, which had prompted party member Sushma Swaraj to file a disqualification petition against him in December that year. Ansari disagreed with Nishad's contention that he had tendered his resignation from the primary membership of the party on 18 October, 2005 'in an agitated mental condition', which he later withdrew by a letter dated 17 Nov '05.
Parliament on Thursday remembered those killed in the terror strike in Mumbai on this day last year with the Lok Sabha resolving to unitedly fight and defeat the forces of terrorism which pose the 'gravest threat to humanity.'
With his "anarchists" remark evoking a sharp reaction from the Opposition, Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari on Wednesday maintained that it was not an allegation against anybody and said his secretariat will review it in light of the atmosphere prevailing in the House at that time.
Rajya Sabha was briefly adjourned on Tuesday following an uproar by AIADMK over Telecom Minister A Raja's role in Second Generation or 2G spectrum allocation that allegedly led to heavy loss of revenue to the government.
Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh and his party colleague Ram Gopal Yadav along with eight other new members of Parliament were administered oath by Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari on Wednesday.
Congress members, shouting slogans against the government, trooped into the well shouting slogans like "Modi teri tanashahi nahi chalegi".
The three-month long budget session of Parliament was adjourned on Tuesday, sine die three days ahead of schedule, amid acrimonious scenes in Rajya Sabha over the introduction of the Women's Reservation Bill.
Singh, once a close associate of Gandhi, turned her critic after the Iraqi oil-for-food scam broke out and he was forced to resign from the government in November 2005.
George Fernandes in an interview had accused Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh of betraying the country by signing the 123 Agreement.
Akhilesh Das, who was recently dropped from the Union Council of Ministers recently, on Tuesday resigned from the party as well as the Rajya Sabha after blaming the "coterie" around Rahul Gandhi
Opposition parties want to contest the election to the post of the deputy chairman on August 21 while the Congress is keen to get its nominee P J Kurien get elected unopposed.
Liquor baron Vijay Mallya's tenure in the Rajya Sabha came to an end on Wednesday with Chairman Hamid Ansari accepting his fresh resignation letter.
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