India Envoy Sen maybe called before LS privileges committee

NEW DELHI: Indian envoy to the US Ronen Sen, who made the controversial "headless chickens" remarks that MPs took offence at, maybe called before the Lok Sabha privileges committee to which the issue has been referred to by the Speaker.

Sources said Speaker Somnath Chatterjee has referred the issue after receipt of a reply by the External Affairs Ministry to which Sen had expressed unqualified apology for the remarks. The Ministry had pleaded that in view of the unqualified apology tendered by him, the matter be closed.

Sources said in view of the strong feelings of the MPs on the issue, the Speaker had referred it to the privileges committee headed by Congress MP V Kishorechandra Suryanarayn Deo.

The sources said the committee is likely to call the MPs, who had given the notice of privilege motion against Sen and probably the representatives of the media which had published the remarks. After going through the evidence collected, the committee may, if necessary, call Sen for getting his version.

At the height of the controversy over the opposition to the nuclear deal from Left and opposition parties, Sen had used the word "headless chickens" to describe those commenting against the deal.

However, when the MPs raised the issue in Parliament attacking him, he had said that he had used the remarks to refer to journalists and not MPs but still he had offered unconditional apology to them if it had hurt their feelings.