AAP Leader Raghav Chadha Moves Supreme Court Challenging Suspension From Rajya Sabha

Aam Aaadmi Party(AAP) MP Raghav Chadha has approached the Supreme Court challenging his suspension from the Rajya Sabha. Chaddha, a Rajya Sabha member from Punjab, was suspended from the upper house on August 11 for allegedly obstructing the house proceedings. The suspension is to continue the duration of the pendency of Privileges Committee proceedings against him.

In a writ petition filed against the Rajya Sabha Secretariat, the AAP leader has challenged the "indefinite suspension" as illegal and arbitrary. To buttress his case, he referred to the Supreme Court's judgment in Ashish Shelar v. State of Maharashtra (2022) where the Supreme Court quashed the Maharashtra Assembly's resolution to suspend twelve MLAs. In Ashish Shelar, the Supreme Court held the suspension beyond one session to be arbitrary and illegal.

Chadha has also adopted a similar argument in his petition to question the decision of the Rajya Sabha Chairperson. He pointed out that the suspension was ordered on the last day of the Monsoon Session and it is continuing even now, even after the end of the Monsoon Session and the following Special Session. Reference is also made to Rule 256 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Council of States (‘Rajya Sabha Rules’) which incorporates a categorical prohibition against the suspension of any Member for a period “exceeding the remainder of the Session.”  It is also argued that the indefinite suspension amounts to violation of the rights of the people of Punjab, who he represents in the Rajya Sabha.

He terms the decision of the Rajya Sabha chairperson as a "selective targeting of a vocal member of Parliament of the Opposition."

It is argued that the the indefinite suspension beyond the Monsoon session is on the face of it "illegal, manifestly arbitrary, unconstitutional, and erosive of the rights of effective representation to the people of Punjab."

It may be noted that Chaddha has also approached the Delhi High Court challenging the Rajya Sabha Secretariat's move to evict him from the allotted bungalow.