The wrongful use of parliamentary privileges by members of Parliament (MPs), which has been under the scanner of late, has now proved costly for yet another MP, Rajesh Kumar Manjhi of RJD.

A Parliamentary committee, headed by V Kishore Chandra S Deo, has recommended the suspension of Manjhi from Lok Sabha for 30 sittings. The Committee found him guilt of taken a woman campanion personating as his wife on official tour. It has also suggested that Manjhi should also be ??be restrained from taking his spouse or companion on official tours till the conclusion of the 14th Lok Sabha??.

The incident follows a similar controversy in which Babubhai Katara, a BJP MP from Gujarat, was caught redhanded at the Delhi airport trying to smuggle a woman posing as his wife out of country. Police investigations are still on.

The panel, which submitted its report to Speaker Somnath Chatterjee on Thursday, was constituted by the Speaker in May following a complaint by Manjhi’s wife Pramila Kumar Manjhi to look into the misconduct of members. The report pointed out that Manjhi, who represents Gaya (SC constituency) in Bihar, was guilty of undertaking two valid journeys from Delhi to Mumbai in which he took along a female friend passing her as his wife.

??These acts of the member tantamount to cheating and impersonating, which are penal offences under the law of the land and is also a conduct unbecoming of a member,?? the report said.

The Committee observed that the member had “blatantly misused” the entitled facilities while a member is on a Committee tour. The committee also observed, “The MP is also guilty of misleading the panel under oath during his evidence before it. We are of the view that he was even prevaricating and willfully sought to suppress the truth,” adding that his actions were “conscious and deliberate” act of violation of guidelines.

In her complain to the Speaker the MP’s wife said that he was ill-treating her and misusing facilities provided to him by taking another woman with him on official tours. When asked by the Committee whether his wife had accompanied him on the Standing Committee of Labour tour from September 21 to 26 last year, the MP said, “Yes, she had gone with me on the said tour.” However, later Manjhi addressed a letter to the Chairman of the Committee admitting that he had taken his woman friend in the name of his spouse in the tour.

Katara and the woman were subsequently taken to Patiala House Court in the city. He has been booked under Section – 419 , 422 , 468 , 471.

Katara is a BJP MP from the Dohad constituency in Gujarat and was elected to 13th Lok Sabha in 1999. From 1999-2000, he was a member of the Committee on Urban and Rural Development.

In 2004, he was re-elected to 14 Lok Sabha (second term) as a member of the Committee on Science and Technology, Environment and Forests.