New Delhi, May 18: Congress chief whip in the Rajya Sabha Jairam Ramesh on Monday gave a privilege notice against Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan for allegedly lowering the dignity of Parliament with remarks made at a recent press conference.
In his notice to Rajya Sabha Chairman C P Radhakrishnan, Ramesh said that during a press conference on May 15 in the aftermath of the NEET-UG exam cancellation, Pradhan made some “derogatory” remarks against a parliamentary committee, which “reveal his contempt for Parliament”.
“I have given notice of question of privilege under Rule 187 of Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Council of States against the Union Minister of Education for having lowered the dignity of Parliament and Parliamentary Committees.
“He has made these outrageous remarks while presiding over the rot in the Education Ministry that is destroying the future of lakhs of youth across the country,” Ramesh said in a post on X.
He also shared a copy of the privilege notice sent to Radhakrishnan.
“I, hereby, give notice of question of privilege under Rule 187 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) against Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, Union Minister of Education, Government of India, for having lowered the dignity of the Parliament and parliamentary committees.
“On 15th May 2026, in his capacity as the Union Minister for Education, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan addressed an official press conference in New Delhi on the issue of the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak,” he said in his notice.
Ramesh said Pradhan was subsequently asked by the representatives of the media as to why his ministry had not implemented the recommendations of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education in its report on the National Testing Agency (NTA).
“To this question, the Minister responded as follows — ‘I will not comment on Parliament Standing Committee red flags. I will speak about the High-Level Committee of Experts (HLCE)/Radhakrishnan Committee. The Parliament Standing Committee has members from the opposition. They write things in a certain manner, you also know that. Hence, I won’t speak on the standing committee’,” Ramesh said.
These remarks by the Union education minister are “outrageous”, he said.
“They are highly derogatory and seek to malign parliamentarians, parliamentary committees and the Parliament of India. The Parliamentary Committees are an extension of the Parliament of India, and rightly so referred to as mini-Parliament. Hence, the Executive’s accountability to the Legislature and its parliamentary committees is a fundamental tenet of India’s democratic polity.
“The Minister’s impugned comments clearly indicate and reveal his contempt for the Parliament, parliamentary committees, members of the parliamentary committee that are drawn from all political parties and India’s constitutional democracy itself,” the former Union minister said.
Ramesh said Pradhan has “deliberately lowered the stature and prestige of the institution of the Standing Committee simply because of its bipartisan nature”.
“The Minister’s comments also tantamount to imputing dishonourable motives to members of parliamentary committees themselves, he said.
Ramesh said it is well established that any derogatory references to parliamentary committees, members of parliamentary committees constitute a “gross contempt” of such parliamentary committees.
The contempt of the parliamentary committee constitutes contempt of the House, he claimed.
“The above conduct of the Minister of Education constitutes a grave breach of privilege and contempt of the House. In fact, it is a perfect case of such breach of privilege and contempt and a fit case for action by you since the Standing Committee on Education is one of the eight standing committees of the Rajya Sabha.
“I, therefore, request that privilege proceedings be initiated against Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of Education, in this matter,” Ramesh said in his notice.
