Published on 30 Mar 2025
• The recent ‘selective expunction’ by Parliament’s presiding officers has sparked tension between the Opposition and the Centre.
• Parliament records all proceedings verbatim, but on the orders of the Presiding Officer, words deemed “defamatory, indecent, unparliamentary, or undignified” are expunged, meaning removed.
• These powers are derived from Rule 261 of the Rajya Sabha and Rules 380 and 381 of the Lok Sabha’s Rules of Procedure.
• The Lok Sabha Secretariat maintains a list of ‘unparliamentary’ words, while the Rajya Sabha’s rules guide the avoidance of offensive expressions.
Expunction Power
Parliament
parliamentary system
speaker
chairman of Rajya sabha