Congress Leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury's Suspension From Lok Sabha Revoked Hours After Panel Recommendation

On Wednesday, hours after a parliamentary committee recommended that action be taken, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury's suspension from Parliament was revoked.

Lok Sabha Secretariat in a notification said, "The suspension of Shri Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, MP from the service of the House which was effected on 10.8.2023 till the submission of the Report by the Committee of Privileges, has been revoked with effect from 30.8.2023."

Chowdhury had appeared before the Privileges Committee of Lok Sabha earlier in the day, apologizing for his conduct in the House and the remarks that he made on August 10 during the monsoon session in the Parliament, and the committee unanimously adopted a resolution to lift his suspension. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla was communicated to about this immediately.

The Privileges Committee of the House was chaired by BJP member Sunil Kumar Singh. Chowdhury reportedly addressed the committee expressing his regret for the remarks and said that was never his intention to hurt anybody's feelings.

A committee member told the media, "The committee has adopted a resolution to revoke the suspension of Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury from the Lok Sabha. The resolution will be sent to the Speaker as soon as possible."

Chowdhury was named by Birla for "unruly conduct" on August 10 and was suspended from the membership of Lok Sabha pending a report from the Privileges Committee.

 Some members at the meeting of the Committee on August 18 thought that Chowdhury had been punished by Parliament for his conduct, and it was no longer necessary to examine how he behaved before a parliamentary committee. But as a process of natural justice, the committee had asked Chowdhury to appear before it on Wednesday.