From Sanskrit chants to meetings in hotels: weird things a Rajya Sabha Committee is doing

QUICK PILL

Playing by own rules

• The committee ends the meetings with its chairman chanting the Shiva Tandava Stuti
• While on tour the meetings are also held at fancy hotels
• Non-members are allowed to be a part of meetings

Of all the strange things that happen in the Rajya Sabha, the meetings of a particular committee often conclude on a religious note!

Before signing off the proceedings of the meeting, Rajya Sabha member Dr T Subbarami Reddy, recites the Shiva Tandava Stuti. He also gives the committee his blessings at the end of his 'recitation'.

If such non-secular recitations were not enough rule-breaking as far as Rajya Sabha committees are concerned, during tours, the meetings of the committee have even been held at a hotel owned by Reddy's family. Reddy has also allowed an industrialist-cum-MP to participate in committee meetings as a special invitee.

Also Read - BJP sacks 12 MPs from parliamentary committees for not attending meetings

The committee in question is the Rajya Sabha Committee on Subordinate Legislation where Andhra Pradesh Congress President and Rajya Sabha member, Dr T Subbarami Reddy, holds the post of chairman.

There are various committees of Parliament. The daily affairs of all these committees are hardly ever scrutinised. And by the looks of it, the 15-member Rajya Sabha Committee on Subordinate Legislation is one of those 'unscrutinised' committees.

What does the committee do?

According to the Rajya Sabha website, the Committee on Subordinate Legislation was set up to scrutinise and ensure whether powers to make rules, regulations, bylaws, schemes or other statutory instruments conferred by the Constitution or delegated by Parliament have been properly exercised within the given conferment or delegation.

It was been constituted under Rules 204-206 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Rajya Sabha and first established in 1964.

Tolerance 101

Clearly, one of the most interesting facts about this committee is the recitation of the Shiva Tandava Stuti, written by Ravana - the most "notorious" character of the Ramcharit Manas - at the end every meeting.

After the recitation, Reddy, like a priest, raises his hands to give blessings. A disciple of lord Shiva, Reddy chants the hymns in Sanskrit.

Like other parliamentary committees, leaders of different political parties are members of this committee. Among them, a few are non-Hindu.

Constitutionally, as a secular nation, there is a strict prohibition on religious chanting in any official meeting. But in a strange paradox to intolerant activities happening across the country, members of this committee have no objection to Reddy's recitation.

Rather, they ignore it and smile.

Ali Anwar, who has come to Rajya Sabha on a JD (U) ticket from Bihar for the second term, is the lone Muslim member of the committee. But Anwar has no problems with Reddy either.

Own rules

Reddy has his own set of rules for the meetings of this committee. During the committee's Mumbai visit, he invited Videocon's Rajkumar Dhoot to attend a meeting of banking sector officials.

The committee was there to carry out its responsibilities regarding a circular of Reserve Bank of India.

Reddy and Rajkumar Dhoot have an old commercial relationship with the banking sector. Like Dhoot, Reddy too is a business tycoon. There is a liability of more than Rs 175 crore against his name.

Though Dhoot is also a member of Rajya Sabha, other members of the committee could not see any logical and direct reason to specially invite Dhoot in the said meeting.

MP Achyuthan, a former member of the committee, said that he did not find the step to be a justified one.

Keeping it quiet

During an interaction with a senior official of the committee, it was quite apparent that the proceedings of this committee are not transparent for the general public.

The official was more interested in concealing, rather than disseminating, the information related to the committee. He refused to divulge the details about the RBI circular regarding which the committee met the banking sector officials in Mumbai. He termed this information as 'confidential'.

When asked about the venue of the meeting of this committee at Hyderabad, his attitude was similar.

However, other sources confirmed that the meeting of this committee was held at Hyderabad in a luxurious hotel owned by Reddy's family, revealing a clear case of a conflict of interest.

Of the former and current members of the committee whom this reporter contacted, one person said that the chairman has the privilege to invite other Rajya Sabha members to the meeting, but his intentions should be clear and defined.

Many members avoided talking at length on this issue, but none of them denied it.

Interestingly, there is no updated information available about the meetings of this committee on the Rajya Sabha website. The website lacks information about the committee's meetings and tours after 2015.

When asked about this, a committee official expressed his ignorance. He asked this correspondent to exercise his right to information and seek the details if he so desires.

It's a stark reality that many of parliamentary committees dislike sharing information about its meetings and tours in detail.

More in Catch - Rahul responds to Ethics committee notice; says will deal with it

Three-member parliamentary panel formed by Amit Shah to visit Malda tomorrow