MP faces suspension over affair

NEW DELHI: A Parliamentary Committee has recommended Rashtriya Janata Dal MP Rajesh Kumar Manjhi’s suspension from the membership of the House for 30 sittings after he was found guilty of taking another woman with him, who posed as his wife, on official tours.

The committee has also recommended restraining him from taking his spouse or any companion on official tours till the conclusion of the 14th Lok Sabha.

Manjhi, who is MP from Gaya in Bihar, stands to lose allowances for 30 sittings at the rate of Rs 550 after the report is accepted. Sources indicated that the Speaker will reprimand Manjhi on August 30. Thereafter, the MP will be debarred from attending any Standing Committee meetings or ask any starred questions.

Acting on a complaint by the MP’s wife, Pramila Kumari Manjhi, the ‘Committee to Inquire into the Misconduct of Members of Lok Sabha’ summoned Manjhi and conducted a detailed inquiry where the MP gave a confession.

Pramila Manjhi, in her letter addressed to the Speaker of Lok Sabha on December 15, 2006, had complained that her husband was taking a woman named Rani alias Meena with him on official tours in her name and was misusing the railway pass issued in her name. Pramila wrote that Manjhi often got Rani medically treated on their CGHS card.

She further alleged that the MP has been ill-treating her and has got married to Rani without getting divorced and is also living with her.