Nearly five months after the Narada sting was referred to it, the Ethics Committee of Lok Sabha headed by BJP veteran LK Advani is yet to take up the issue involving bribery charges against Trinamool Congress MPs.
The panel was reconstituted recently with Advani again appointed as its Chairman.
The Narada News had conducted a sting operation on six Trinamool Congress members, including one from the Rajya Sabha, in which they were caught on camera accepting money from a person in return for some favour to a fictitious company.
The MPs from the Lok Sabha are Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, Saugata Roy, Suvendu Adhikari, Prasun Banerjee and Sultan Ahmed, besides Mukul Roy from the Rajya Sabha.
A prominent member of the Ethics Committee who was also on the previous panel said, "The committee did not take up the issue."
The Lok Sabha website also throws no light on this issue as it says "information awaited" regarding the sittings of the Ethics panel and the issues taken up by it.
CPI(M) Deputy leader in the Lok Sabha Mohammed Salim said he was still to receive a response from speaker Sumitra Mahajan to his letter making a strong pitch for taking up the matter by the committee.
Salim, who had raised the issue in the last Parliament session, said he had been demanding that the Narada scam issue be handed over to an adhoc committee as was done in the Bhagwant Mann video case.
Recalling that the developments in the Narada sting operation were like those in the Sharda Chit Fund scam case, Salim alleged that in the latter CBI and ED were not proceeding despite Supreme Court orders.
The Ethics Committee examines complaints relating to unethical conduct of a member referred to it. It is also free to take up suo motu matters relating to unethical conduct by a member wherever felt necessary and make such recommendations as it may deem fit.
Besides Advani, other renominated members of the panel are; A Arunmozhithevan, Ninong Ering, Sher Singh Ghubaya, Hemant Tukaram Godse, Pralhad Joshi, Bhagatsingh Koshyari, Bhartruhari Mahtab, Kariya Munda, Jayshreeben Patel, Malla Reddy, Sumedhanand Saraswati and Bhola Singh.
The two new faces in the committee are -- Rakesh Singh and Akshay Yadav.
Incidentally, there is no Left party member on the panel.
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