Congress MP KC Venugopal on Friday moved a privilege motion against Union Minister of State Jitendra Singh, objecting to his claim that “no firing” took place during student protests outside Parliament on July 20.

Singh made the statement in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday during a debate on the anti-paper leak bill

According to the notice sent by Venugopal to Speaker Om Birla, the minister said that “no firing took place at all” and that only tear gas had been used.

However, Venugopal said in his notice that “contrary to the minister’s assertions, firing did occur”, and alleged that Singh had “knowingly and deliberately provided incorrect information to Parliament and misled the House”.

He argued that misleading the House constitutes a breach of privilege and requested that the matter be referred to the Privileges Committee.

Parliamentary privileges are rights conferred to MPs for conducting the business of Parliament. MPs can file breach of privilege motions seeking action if these rights are violated. The chairperson of the House decides whether to admit the motion and whether to refer it to the Privileges Committee.

In a social media post, Venugopal further said that Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi had met a pellet gun victim, adding that media reports and hospital records also documented injuries caused by such firing.

“The government cannot get away with such obvious falsehoods in Parliament,” Venugopal said. “There should be action against the Minister.”

The privilege motion comes as the Opposition continues to criticise the government over the police response to the student protests in Delhi.

Gandhi, during his speech in the Lok Sabha, had earlier accused Union Home Minister Amit Shah of “authorising the shooting of students”. However, parts of the Congress leader’s address were later expunged from the parliamentary record.

**Anurag Thakur files breach of privilege notice against Rahul Gandhi **

Bharatiya Janata Party MP Anurag Thakur on Thursday submitted a breach of privilege and contempt of the House notice against Gandhi over his remarks about Shah in the Lok Sabha.

In his notice to the speaker, Thakur accused Gandhi of using “unparliamentary and derogatory language” and making “grave and unsubstantiated allegations” against Shah, The Hindu reported.

He sought that the matter be referred to the Privileges Committee and that Gandhi be directed to apologise to the House and the minister.

Youth protests

The agitation in Delhi began on June 6, when the Cockroach Janta Party political campaign began a protest at Jantar Mantar to demand the resignation of Pradhan from his post over alleged irregularities in the conduct of competitive exams. Pradhan resigned on Saturday.

On July 20, thousands joined the protest two days after the police forcibly took activist Sonam Wangchuk, who had been on a hunger strike for three weeks, to hospital. Their march to Parliament was met with a crackdown by the police. Dozens were injured as the police used lathis, fired tear gas shells and pellet guns against the demonstrators.

A day after the pellet guns were fired, the Delhi Police had denied using the weapon against the protesters. However, reports said that the pellet guns had been carried by the Rapid Action Force, a unit of the Central Reserve Police Force that was also deployed at the protest, as part of its riot-control equipment.

The police in the national capital and the Central Reserve Police Force report to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs.

The police action turbocharged the agitation, which spread to other parts of the country.

Written by Sara Varghese. Edited by Neerad Pandharipande.

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