Complaint filed with Ethics Committee seeking expulsion of Kalyan Banerjee, Rahul Gandhi

New Delhi: Advocate and Social Activist Vineet Jindal on Wednesday filed a complaint against suspended TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee with Ethics Committees of Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha for mimicking Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar outside the Parliament. In his complaint, Jindal has sought the expulsion of the suspended TMC MP, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and other MPs involved. For the unversed, Banerjee had mimicked Vice President Dhankhar while protesting on the stairs of Parliament yesterday against the suspension of MPs.

Mimicry Row: What does Jindal's complaint Say?

In his complaint, Jindal claimed that this event comes under the extreme case of misconduct by the members of the house upon which the Ethics Committee should take action against this misconduct. Such misconduct is a dishonour and disregard of the rules of the conduct and Parliamentary Etiquette, he stated.

"This is a complaint against TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee, Rahul Gandhi MP (leader of Congress), and other MPs for making defamatory remarks, mocking and mimicking the style of the Rajya Sabha Chairman and Vice-President of India Jagdeep Dhankhar while presiding over the house," his complaint read.

"Recently, a video went viral on Twitter and other social networking sites in which the TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee could be seen mimicking Rajya Sabha Chairman and Vice-President of India, Jagdeep Dhankhar, which is followed by hooting, mocking and cheering by other members of Parliament of the Opposition party and one of the senior leaders of the opposition, Rahul Gandhi is making the video of this shameful mockery. Such actions and behaviour by the opposition party leaders are highly derogatory and offensive to the dignity of the House and its members and are inconsistent with the standards which the House expects from its members," it added.

"Such misconduct is also a dishonour and disregard of the rules of conduct and Parliamentary Etiquette. It is a matter of great shame that the members of the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha have been so disrespectful and loud-mouthed to a person who holds one of the highest positions in the Indian Parliament and Vice President of India. It is a disgrace that these opposition leaders have failed to abide by the principles of conduct laid by the Ethics Committee. Indulging in such misconduct of mocking the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha has brought disrepute to the parliament and also questions their credibility," he said.

"As per the Rules of Conduct and Parliamentary Etiquette, the House has the right to punish its members for their misconduct in the House or outside. In an extreme case of misconduct, if the conduct of members/members of the house is found to be derogatory to the dignity of the house and its members and inconsistent with the standards the House expects from its members then the House may expel a member," Jindal added.

He further noted that these members have not done something like this for the first time.

"This is not the first time that these members have been found indulging in acts of misconduct, a few of them have already been suspended for their inappropriate behaviour and disruption in the parliamentary proceedings in both houses, which shows that these members have
become habitual offenders and do not give any heed to the punishment of suspension from the houses," he said.

"Therefore, the present matter is grave in nature as the acts of the suspended and some other members are intentionally to lower the dignity of the constitutional post of the Vice president of India and the chairman of Rajya Sabha. This event comes under the extreme case of misconduct by the members of the house upon which the Ethics Committee should take action against this misconduct, potentially including expulsion of the members involved," Jindal added in his complaint.

"By the present complaint, I am requesting the ethics committee of both the Houses to take action against the members of Parliament involved in the present case and seek their expulsion from the Houses," the complaint read further.

Kalyan Banerjee Unapologetic   

Earlier, under fire from BJP leaders over his mock impersonation, suspended TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee defended his conduct saying mimicry is a kind of art and he wasn't intending to hurt anyone. "I have never had any intention to hurt anyone...Does he really behave like this in Rajya Sabha? Mimicry was done by the PM in Lok Sabha between 2014-2019..." Kalyan Banerjee said.