New Delhi, December 12: Former Union Minister and senior BJP MP Anurag Singh Thakur on Friday wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, raising a serious complaint against an All India Trinamool Congress MP for allegedly using an electronic cigarette inside the Lok Sabha chamber, an act he described as a grave breach of Parliamentary rules and statutory provisions. He said the member belonging to the AITMC was seen using an electronic cigarette while seated in the House during the sitting, and added that the act was clearly visible to several members who were present. He said he had duly brought the matter to the notice of the Chair during Question Hour on Thursday.

“I want to bring to your urgent notice a grave violation of the rules of the House as well as the laws that took place in the Lok Sabha chamber on Thursday,” Thakur said in the letter to the Speaker. The BJP MP reminded the Speaker that the manufacture, production, import, export, transport, sale, including online sale, distribution, storage and advertisement of electronic cigarettes had been completely prohibited across India under the Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes (Production, Manufacture, Import, Export, Transport, Sale, Distribution, Storage and Advertisement) Act, 2019. Anurag Thakur Accuses TMC MP of Vaping in House; Union Ministers Disagree with Saugata Roy.

“Again, possession and use of e-cigarettes in public places, including government buildings and Parliament House, is a punishable offence under the 2019 Act,” Thakur pointed out. He added that even before the 2019 Act came into force, the use of any smoking device, including electronic nicotine delivery systems, had been barred inside Parliament House since 2008 under the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 2003, and the rules framed under it, as well as instructions issued by the Lok Sabha Secretariat.

“The Lok Sabha Secretariat, in its circulars and guidelines issued from time to time, including those reiterating the ban after the 2019 Act, has clearly prohibited the carrying and use of e-cigarettes or vaping devices inside the Parliament complex,” he said in the letter. Thakur said the open use of a banned substance and a prohibited device inside the Lok Sabha chamber, the core of India’s parliamentary system, amounted not only to a violation of decorum and discipline but also to a cognisable offence under laws enacted by Parliament.

“Such conduct lowers the dignity of the House, sets an extremely poor precedent and sends a dangerous message to the youth of the country at a time when the government and Parliament have taken a firm stand against all forms of tobacco and nicotine products,” he said. He urged the Speaker to take immediate cognisance of the incident, order an inquiry through the appropriate committee or mechanism of the House, and “initiate appropriate disciplinary proceedings against the member concerned as per the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha.” Reforms by Govt Positively Impacted People's Lives: Anurag Thakur.

’Grave Violation of the Rules of the House ‘

Thakur on Thursday accused an unnamed TMC member of using an e-cigarette in the Lok Sabha, prompting the Speaker to assure appropriate action. During Question Hour, while posing a supplementary question, he asked whether e-cigarettes were permitted in the House. When Birla replied in the negative, the BJP MP from Himachal Pradesh said a TMC leader had been “constantly using an e-cigarette in the House for the past several days.” Amid the uproar, Birla urged members to uphold the dignity of the House and said he would act if a written complaint was submitted.

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