8 MPs ignore reminders, don't face action for not declaring financial assets

In a clear violation of Parliament rules governing the declaration of wealth by Parliamentarians, eight members have not declared their financial assets, despite being reminded multiple times about them being required to do so within 90 days of being sworn in.

All Lok Sabha members are supposed to submit details of their movable and immovable property and that of their spouses and dependents, to the Lok Sabha speaker, as per Members of Lok Sabha Rules (declaration of assets and liabilities) Rules, 2004. A similar rule applies to members of the Upper House.

According to the information obtained by Delhi-based social activist Subhash Chandra Agrawal through an RTI application, four Lok Sabha members and five Rajya Sabha members have not declared the details of their financial assets as on 1 April, 2013. The details should have been submitted within 90 days of MPs taking oath.

Three Lok Sabha members Harsh Vardhan (Congress), Madhu Koda (Independent) and Putul Kumari (Independent) have not declared their assets, reveals the response from Lok Sabha secretariat. Koda has been exempted by the Speaker from declaring his details based on a request he made in this regard.

Five Rajya Sabha (RS) members who are yet to submit their declaration of assets and liabilities are Ajay Sancheti (BJP), Darshan Singh Yadav (SP), Munquad Ali (BSP), Narendra Budania (Congress) and Pradeep Kumar Balmuchu (Congress).

No action has been taken against any of the defaulting members despite them not furnishing the details after having received repeated reminders from the respective Houses.

“Members are being regularly reminded before every parliamentary session through parliamentary bulletin and through reminder letters as well, to file declaration of assets and liabilities,” the RS secretariat said in its response.

Interestingly, the Parliamentary ethics committee did not favour the posting of assets of Rajya Sabha members on the website of the Upper House, the secretariat said.

As per Members of Lok Sabha Rules (declaration of assets and liabilities) Rules, 2004, the Speaker can initiate action against an MP if they conceal facts in his asset/ liability declaration. Filing an affidavit with the Speaker can prompt action against the MP who is alleged to have willfully concealed details of his or her wealth.

If the Speaker finds merit in a complaint, the MP is given 15 days to respond. Based on the MP’s reply, if the Speaker is satisfied that there is case of willful contravention of Parliamentary Rules, it can be referred to the ethics committee. The matter is either considered closed or tabled before the House depending on findings of the committee.

Agrawal in his application also referred to the case of actors - MPs Dharmendra and Hema Malini, to seek information on what changes were made to Parliament Rules for them to act as a deterrent for MPs who wished to conceal details of their spouses. In her submissions to the Lok Sabha, Dharmendra had claimed Prakash Deol was his wife, while documents submitted by Hema Malini in the Rajya Sabha named Dharmendra as her husband.

Responding to the query, RS secretariat said that the upper House can take action against the MP only when the offence of bigamy, which is punishable under the IPC, has been established by a court.