Ranchi, March 26 JDU MLA from Jamshedpur West, Saryu Rai, on Wednesday, moved a privilege motion against Jharkhand Health Minister Irfan Ansari and officials of the Health Department in the Assembly.
After receiving permission from Speaker Rabindra Nath Mahato, Rai presented his statement in the Assembly.
The JDU leader argued that providing wrong or misleading answers to questions raised by members in the House amounts to contempt of the Assembly and a violation of the member’s right to receive accurate information.
The matter pertains to a short-notice question Rai had raised on March 21, regarding alleged irregularities in the appointment of the Registrar-cum-Secretary of the Jharkhand State Pharmacy Council.
He alleged that, despite having the correct information, the Health Minister misled the House while responding to Clause 2 of his question.
According to Rai, a pharmacist can only be registered for one shop, but the State Government has appointed an individual as Registrar-cum-Secretary who is registered at multiple locations.
Citing an investigation report submitted by the Assistant Director (Medicine), South Chotanagpur Division, to the Director (Medicine), State Drug Control Laboratory, Rai claimed that the official records confirmed multiple registrations for the appointed individual. Despite this evidence, the Health Department withheld these details in its response to the Assembly.
“The officials of the Health Department have misled the Health Minister, leading to a false and misleading answer being placed before the House. This is a breach of privilege and an attempt to suppress the truth,” Rai asserted.
The opposition -- including MLAs from the BJP, JDU, LJP, and AJSU -- stood in support of Rai’s motion and demanded action against those responsible.
In response, Speaker Rabindra Nath Mahato assured the House that he would examine the privilege motion and, if the allegations were found to be correct, appropriate action would be taken as per the rules.
The Jharkhand budget session will conclude on Thursday, March 27.
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