Kunal urges Ansari not to cancel RS membership

KOLKATA: Trinamool’s Rajya Sabha MP Kunal Ghosh has written to Vice President Hamid Ansari, who is also chairman of Rajya Sabha, for his inability to attend the proceedings of RS. He has also requested for leave and urged him not to cancel his membership. Ghosh is in custody since last 11 months.
Ghosh was suspended by Trinamool before his arrest and he is facing at least 17 cases in different courts of Bengal after SIT started the probe.CBI is also pursuing two cases against him. Ghosh has obtained bail in one of the CBI cases.
Ghosh wrote to Ansari to update that since he is in jail in connection with the Saradha scam, he should be granted leave, because absence over a prolonged period can lead to cancellation of RS membership. “Norm says that if a member remains absent for over 60 days without the approval of the RS chairman, it can lead to cancellation of the membership,” says Saumyajit Raha, advocate of Ghosh.
Also, the leader of RS can move a motion for declaring the seat vacant. According to rules, the absence petition is to be read out to the other members present in the RS and their approval is needed for leave. If the members disagree, then the MP is informed that the leave has not been granted. Sources said Ghosh is co-operating with CBI and has given some “important clues” about the Saradha money laundering and also named some prominent leaders. “The whole exercise for Ghosh is to avoid conviction. Because, that would mean disqualification of membership, like what happened to Jayalalitha. So, Ghosh also wanted to make a confession again,” a senior official said.