UPSC Prelims 2024 Q80: Lok Sabha Ethics Committee — Explained

Which of the following statements about the Ethics Committee in the Lok Sabha are correct?

1. Initially it was an ad-hoc Committee.

2. Only a Member of the Lok Sabha can make a complaint relating to unethical conduct of a member of the Lok Sabha.

3. This Committee cannot take up any matter which is sub-judice.

Select the answer using the code given below:

  1. 1 and 2 only
  2. 2 and 3 only
  3. 1 and 3 only
  4. 1, 2 and 3

Answer: (c) 1 and 3 only

Statement-wise explanation

  • 1: correct — The Lok Sabha Committee on Ethics was first set up as an ad hoc committee on 16 May 2000, during the 13th Lok Sabha. It became a permanent standing committee with effect from 12 August 2015, during the 16th Lok Sabha, when Rules 316A–316E were added to the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha.
  • 2: incorrect — Any person can complain about a Lok Sabha member's unethical conduct, but an outsider must send the complaint through a Lok Sabha member, with evidence and an affidavit. If a member makes the complaint, no affidavit is needed. The Speaker can also refer a matter to the Committee. So members are not the only people who can raise a complaint.
  • 3: correct — The Committee's procedure bars it from taking up complaints about matters that are sub judice, meaning pending before a court. It also does not take up complaints based only on unsupported media reports. This keeps the House from deciding questions that a court is already hearing.

How to eliminate

Statement 2 contains the absolute word 'only'. In UPSC polity questions, 'only' usually signals a trap, and it does here: outsiders can complain through an MP. If you strike out Statement 2, options a, b and d all go, because each of them includes it. That leaves 1 and 3, and you do not need to know the 2000 or 2015 dates at all. Statement 3 is also a fair guess from general principle: parliamentary bodies avoid sub judice matters so they do not intrude on the courts. Remember this fact: a complaint can come from any person, routed through a Lok Sabha member and backed by an affidavit; a member who complains needs no affidavit.

Know more

Ethics Committees of Parliament look after the moral and ethical conduct of MPs. They are different from the Committee of Privileges, which deals with breach of privilege and contempt of the House.

Feature Rajya Sabha Lok Sabha
First constituted 4 March 1997, by the Chairman (inaugurated by K.R. Narayanan on 30 May 1997) 16 May 2000, as an ad hoc committee
Standing (permanent) status Rules framed in the Rajya Sabha rules From 12 August 2015, under Rule 316A
Members 10, nominated by the Chairman 15, nominated by the Speaker

The Rajya Sabha committee was the first ethics committee set up by any legislature in India.

Functions of the Lok Sabha committee (Rule 316B):

  • Examine every complaint about a Lok Sabha member's unethical conduct that the Speaker refers to it, and recommend action.
  • Frame a Code of Conduct for members and suggest changes to it from time to time.

How a complaint is handled:

  1. Any person can complain through a Lok Sabha member, with evidence and an affidavit. A member who complains needs no affidavit.
  2. The Speaker refers the complaint to the Committee.
  3. The Committee does not take up matters that are sub judice or complaints based only on media reports.
  4. The Committee presents its report to the House. Only the House can act on it, for example by expelling a member through a motion.

Ad hoc vs standing: An ad hoc committee is set up for one task and ends when that task is done. A standing committee is permanent and is reconstituted regularly. The Ethics Committee started as ad hoc and later became a standing committee. The Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) is still a typical ad hoc body.

In the news

In November 2023, the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee recommended expelling Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra in the 'cash-for-query' case. The House adopted its first report and expelled her in December 2023. The case raised public questions about who can complain to the Committee and how it works.

NCERT Concepts to Revise

  • Ethics Committee: The question is about this committee: its origin, who can complain to it and what it cannot take up.
  • Ad hoc committee: Statement 1 depends on what an ad hoc committee is and how it differs from a permanent one.
  • Standing committee: Helps you judge the committee's change in status, which Statement 1 asks about.
  • Breach of privilege: Breach of privilege goes to a different committee, so this helps you keep the two roles apart.

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