Lok Sabha Ethics Panel to Decide on Model Code of Conduct for MPs

The immediate trigger for the committee's decision was Pragya Thakur's remark about Nathuram Godse in parliament.

The Wire Staff

The immediate trigger for the committee's decision was Pragya Thakur's remark about Nathuram Godse in parliament.

lok sabha ethics panel to decide on model code of conduct for mps

The parliament house. Photo: PTI/Files

New Delhi: The Lok Sabha ethics panel has decided to come up with a model code of conduct for MPs after two members of the Lower House have been forced to apologise for their remarks made during the 17th session.

According to the Indian Express, while the immediate trigger was the comment terror accused BJP MP from Bhopal Pragya Thakur made calling Nathuram Godse a patriot, Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan's remarks against Rama Devi also played a part.

The committee, headed by BJP MP Vinod Kumar Sonkar, initiated discussions on a possible code of conduct on Monday, and is likely to ask all political parties for their views. The Rajya Sabha has had a model code of conduct in place since 2005.

“Unlike in the past, the remarks on the floor of the House spread fast, even if they are expunged from the records. So the MPs will have to follow certain decorum in speaking inside the House as well as outside,” a source told the Indian Express.

Members of the panel think any such code will have to be “carefully discussed and deliberated in detail”.

Thakur's remarks led to her being removed from the parliamentary panel on defence and barred from BJP parliamentary meetings. After vociferous protests from the opposition, she was also made to apologise on the floor of the Lok Sabha.

This article went live on December third, two thousand nineteen, at thirty-seven minutes past ten in the morning.

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