New Delhi: The Privileges Committee of the Lok Sabha on Friday let Indian Ambassador to US Ronen Sen off the hook but not before he was cautioned for his 'act of indiscretion' in making a remark in which he had allegedly called the critics of the nuclear deal 'headless chicken'.
The Parliamentary panel, which had summoned Sen over the comment, took a lenient view of the issue and recommended that he be let off and the case closed. Sources said the Lok Sabha panel, however, recommended that Sen be cautioned for his 'act of indiscretion' in making the controversial remark.
A draft of the report on Sen, which was considered and approved by Lok Sabha Committee on Friday, held that there was no breach of privilege or contempt of the House by the Indian envoy.
Maintaining that the remark was not against MPs but targeted at the media, the House panel still felt that it was 'lamentably naive' for the senior diplomat to make such unguarded comment even in an informal chat.
Sen had appeared before the committee on October 19 and extended an unqualified apology for his remark. "I did not mean disrespect to anyone. I make these comments even at home when I have guests over at home and my wife keeps running around," Sen had told the panel.
Taking note of his apology, the panel headed by senior Congress MP V Kishorechandra Deo decided to treat the matter as closed, adding that the report will be placed before the House next week.
The Privileges Committee of the Rajya Sabha, which is also going into the issue, will meet on November 20 but that committee too had not been harsh on Sen when it had summoned him sometime back like the Lok Sabha panel.
Sen's remarks had created a furore in both the Houses of Parliament during the Monsoon Session leading to demands that he be called to the Bar of the House.
In an interview in August this year, Sen had reportedly said: "The deal has been approved by the Indian Cabinet. So why do you have all this running around like headless chicken, looking for a comment here or comment there, and these little storms in a tea-cup?"
He later apologised for the remark, saying it was meant for journalists. But the Lok Sabha Speaker and the Rajya Sabha Chairman both referred the matter to the privileges committees.
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