Shashi Tharoor slaps ‘breach of privilege’ notice on BJP’s Nishikant Dubey over Twitter spat

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has given a notice for breach of privilege against BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, PTI reported. Tharoor, who heads the parliamentary panel on information technology, alleged that Dubey made “disparaging remarks” on social media over his decision to summon a panel meeting to discuss alleged “misconduct” of Facebook.

Tharoor said on Sunday, that the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology would like to hear from Facebook over the Wall Street Journal report, according to which, Facebook India ignored instances of hate speeches made by the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) members.

In his letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Tharoor took a 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”.

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.

Tharoor alleged that Dubey’s remarks amounted to a three-fold breach of privilege.

“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, PTI reported.

“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,” Tharoor said in the letter dated August 18.

Meanwhile, in response to Tharoor’s allegation that Dubey “brought the Committee’s work into disrepute”, the latter replied that “time will tell who brought the committee’s work into disrepute Mr. Chairman”.

He shared a news report on Wednesday on whether ‘Tharoor can summon Facebook over alleged links with BJP’.

“In the last 11 years as an MP, I have neither violated any rules nor would I let anyone violate or abuse their power for their parties personal vendetta with agenda,” Dubey tweeted.