Shekhawat rejects privilege notice against Jaswant

NEW DELHI: Rajya Sabha Chairman Bhairon Singh Shekhawat on Wednesday rejected senior Congress member V Narayanasamy's privilege notice against Leader of the Opposition Jaswant Singh for "misleading" the house on the mole-in-the-PMO issue.

Narayanasamy and other members had given a privilege notice against Singh for having placed on record on August 1, "a purportedly forged letter and therby misleading the house over the issue".

The notice mentioned that Singh had quoted a letter, which was claimed to be correspondence between Harry Barnes, former US Ambassador to India and US Senator Thomas W Graham. But Barnes had reportedly denied having anything to do with that correspondence.

Giving his ruling, Shekhawat said it clearly emerges Singh quoted from the letter which he believed to be true and which he has also authenticated as true.

"It cannot therefore be said that his statement in the house on August 1 was wrong or made deliberately to mislead the house. Accordingly no breach of privilege arises from his statement... I do not consider it to be fit case to be raised as a matter of breach of privilege. I, therefore withhold my consent," Shekhawat said.

Also, Shekhawat said the basis of Narayanasamy's notice was merely a newspaper report and the comments offered by Singh clearly reveal that the newspaper report was not based on "substantial facts". "This case, therefore, highlights an important lesson that greater care, caution and prudence must be exercised in such a serious matter when relying on media reports."