Congress moves privilege motion against Haryana Deputy CM Dushyant Chautala on Geeta Bhukkal's issue

Tribune News Service

Bhartesh Singh Thakur

Chandigarh, December 18

Fifteen Congress MLAs today moved a privilege motion against Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala for allegedly levelling allegations against former Education Minister and party MLA Geeta Bhukkal for saving Jind school principal Kartar Singh (now sacked) after accusations of sexual harassment surfaced against him.

The motion said that Dushyant Chautala “levelled false and misleading allegations against Geeta Bhukkal, MLA Jhajjar” on December 15.

He had said that accusations of sexual harassment were levelled against Kartar Singh in 2005 and a DDR was also registered. He further alleged that allegations were levelled against Kartar Singh in 2011 again while he was posted as headmaster at a school in Makhand village. Chautala claimed that a DDR was also registered in that case at the Uchana police station. He then went on to allege that a meeting was held at Bhukkal’s residence in Jhajjar where a compromise was struck and the DDR was withdrawn.

“Today, Dushyant Chautala tried to over-qualify the statement that the incident had occurred in 2012 and also admitted that Kartar Singh was not in service in 2005,” said the Congress motion.

Meanwhile, Bhukkal refuted the charges and even submitted a reply to Speaker Gian Chand Gupta that she didn’t know Kartar Singh. She said that no meeting ever took place at her residence at Jhajjar and that she didn’t have a house at Jhajjar at that time. She said no DDR/FIR was registered at the Uchana police station about such an incident from 2008 to 2014.

The Congress MLAs, including Deputy CLP Leader Aftab Ahmed and Chief Whip BB Batra, alleged that Dushyant “has lowered the dignity of this august House and also that of Jhajjar MLA Geeta Bhukkal”. They sought the Speaker’s consent to send the matter to the Privileges Committee.

After Chautala’s allegations, the CM had once decided that the matter be sent to a sitting HC judge, but deferred that decision after Batra cited constitutional provisions.

Raising a point of order during Zero Hour, Batra said, “Article 105(1) says that subject to the provisions of this Constitution and rules..., there shall be freedom of speech in Parliament. Article 105(2) says that no MP shall be liable to any proceedings in any court in respect of anything said by him in Parliament or any committee.”

He said no one was scared of inquiry, but the dignity of the House should be protected. He asked the CM to get the issue examined by Legal Remembrancer (LR) before sending the reference to the HC.

The CM deferred the issue till the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) meeting on Tuesday. By that time, the Speaker said, opinion of the LR would also come.

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