Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan met Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Member of Parliament from Punjab Bhagwat Maan for about 20-minutes on Friday and reportedly expressed her displeasure and unhappiness over breaching specific rules related to the Lok Sabha, and in particular his move on Thursday to video live stream his movements in Parliament.
Her admonition of Maan came even as members in both Houses of Parliament raised a din over Maan breaching specific rules of the Lok Sabha. The chairs in both Houses were under considerable pressure from the members to take appropriate punitive action against the errant AAP MP, as a majority felt that it is a matter of national security being compromised.
Maan is being charged with breaching the following Lok Sabha rules:
. 334(A) - Prohibits advance publicity
352 - No inter-alia video recording
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Press and Publication Rules - For any recording, certain areas like security gates etc not to be recorded (which he has done)
Case of security breach - Considered as compromise of security and grave misdemeanor
Mann invited trouble for himself on Thursday over the incident, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies deciding to ask for a privilege motion against him, for "endangering security" of the heavily-guarded complex.
An adamant and defiant Mann had said on Thursday that he would repeat the live streaming on Friday, and added that he had done nothing wrong.
He also said that he would apologise to the Lok Sabha Speaker if he was told that he had committed a mistake.
The AAP lawmaker from Punjab, a popular stand-up comedian, has been accused of compromising the security of Parliament by streaming a video of various layers of screening and checks.
Maan has maintained that it was not his intention to endanger the security of Parliament or its members, and claimed that he only wanted to show people in his constituency in Punjab a glimpse of Parliament and its functioning.
"My people accuse me of not raising their issues in the house. When I told them that questions to be taken up are decided by a draw of lots and only 20 MPs can get their questions in, they did not believe me," he said, explaining that he wanted to show people how questions are sorted in the Central Hall.
Earlier reports had suggested that Speaker Sumita Mahajan had taken note of Maan's video and would call him. She is also likely to seek a detailed report from Parliament's security.
"One should not play with the security of Parliament. Making such videos viral is not the right thing to do," Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi had said on Thursday.
In the video, Mann gives a running commentary as his vehicle crosses security barricades, while entering Parliament. "I'll today show you something you would not have seen earlier," he says.
He enters a room where questions are being sorted and describes the process. A security official is heard telling him not to take photographs, but he replies: "I'll not take photo... will maintain confidentiality.
