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Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, has given a notice for breach of privilege against Bharatiya Janata Party MP Nishikant Dubey, alleging that he made ‘disparaging remarks’ on social media over his decision to summon a panel meeting to discuss alleged ‘misconduct’ of Facebook.
In his letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Tharoor, who heads the parliamentary panel on information technology, took strong objection to Dubey’s remarks on Twitter that ‘the Chairman of Standing Committee does not have the authority to do anything without discussion of the agenda with its members’.
Tharoor said Dubey accused him of championing his political party’s ‘agenda without authorisation by the Committee and Speaker’.
Dubey’s remarks came after Tharoor had said that the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology would like to hear from Facebook about a media report on its conduct and what it proposes to do about hate-speech in India.
Anguished over ‘disparaging’ remarks made by Dubey against his decision to call a meeting of the panel, Tharoor said it amounted to breach of privilege of his position as an MP and Chairman of the standing committee.
‘The matter pertains to the disparaging remarks made by Dubey on a social media platform regarding my decision to summon a Committee meeting to discuss the alleged misconduct of Facebook and seek clarity on the measures that it intends to undertake to curb the spread of hate speech and fake news,’ Tharoor said.
‘Nishikant Dubey’s derogatory remarks have not only brought disrepute to my position as a Member of Parliament and Chairman but also to an institution that mirrors the will of the people of our country,’ Tharoor alleged in the letter, a copy of which was also marked to Sunil Kumar Singh, chairman of Parliamentary Standing Committee on Privileges, Lok Sabha.
Tharoor urged Birla to issue necessary directions to initiate proceedings against Dubey for ‘committing a breach of privilege on multiple accounts and contempt of the House’.
‘I sincerely hope that stringent action is taken in this matter so that it serves as a deterrent to the occurrence of similar incidents in future and restores public trust in Parliament,’ the MP from Thiruvananthapuram said in the letter dated August 18.
