Parliamentary Ethics Committee

Government of the day appointed on 9 July, 1993, a Committee headed by Shri N.N. Vohra, the then Home Secretary, Government of India, to take stock of all available information about

the activities of crime syndicates/mafia organizations who allegedly had developed links

with and were being protected by some Government functionaries and political

personalities.

The committee report suggested setting up of a nodal agency under the Ministry of Home

Affairs, Government of India, to be handled directly by the Union Home Secretary, who

would be assisted by one or more selected officers of the Ministry for the collation and

compilation of all information received from different intelligence agencies.

Subsequently, an All-Party Meeting was held on 15 September 1995, under the

Chairmanship of the then Union Home Minister, Shri S.B. Chavan, to look into the whole

gamut of criminal-politician nexus and the related issue of declaration of assets and

liabilities by the Members of Parliament and Ministers. The points, which inter alia,

constituted the agenda, among others, were :

1. Setting up of a Parliamentary Committee on Ethics as distinct from the

Committee of Privileges which would act as a guardian on the activities of

members of Parliament.

Thus the Ethics Committee, Rajya Sabha, the first such Committee by any

legislature in India was constituted by the Chairman, Rajya Sabha on 4 March 1997, to

oversee the moral and ethical conduct of the Members and to examine the cases referred

to it with reference to ethical and other misconduct of Members.

Ethics Committee, Rajya Sabha consists of ten members, including its Chairman,

who are nominated by the Chairman, Rajya Sabha. Chairman of the Committee is from

the largest party in the House. Other members normally are the Leaders, Deputy

Leaders/Chief Whips of their parties/groups in Rajya Sabha

The Ethics Committee of the Lok Sabha was constituted on 16 May 2000.