Suspend, reprimand 4 stung LS MPs, lay expose norms : Panel

New Delhi, Mar 14 (UNI) A Parliament Committee today recommended a three-month suspension of four Lok Sabha MPs, including former Goa Chief Minister Alemao Churchill (Cong), accused of corruption in the MPs Local Area Development (MPLADs) Scheme.

The other MPs facing suspension are Faggan Singh Kulaste and Ramswaroop Koli (both BJP) and Paras Nath Yadav (SP).

In its 51-page report, tabled in the Lok Sabha, the seven-member committee, headed by Mr V Kishore Chandra S Deo, also called for formulation of guidelines for sting operations and debarring of NGOs and private institutions from taking funds from the scheme.

The committee is also for a thorough revision of the MPLAD guidelines to plug loopholes and remove lacunae.

Its recommendations could be implemented only through the passage of a resolution in the Lok Sabha as the House had done for the expulsion of 10 MPs in the wake of another television sting operation showing the members taking money for raising questions in Parliament. The Rajya Sabha had also expelled an MP in the cash-for-query scam.

The report of the seven-member committee, also suggested that the four MPs may be ''reprimanded.'' The three-month suspension till March 22, when the ongoing Budget session adjourns for a recess till May 9, would cover the period from December 20, when Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee advised them to stay away from the proceedings till a decision is taken.

The committee did not take up the allegations against BJP's Mr Chandra Pratap Singh, who also faced charges of corruption in the MPLAD scheme, as he had already been expelled from the Lok Sabha in the cash-for-question scam.

The MPLADs scam was exposed in a sting operation, code-named ''Operation Chakravyuh'' which was aired by Star News TV Channel on January 25.

The committee said it felt that the conduct of none of the four members ''was above board and they need to be handed out appropriate punishment.'' More UNI SN RP HT1725