Lok Sabha secretariat examining Vadra's reply: Speaker

Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan on Thursday said she had received a reply to the notice sent to Congress president Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra and the Lok Sabha secretariat was examining it.

"We have got his (Vadra) reply. I have sent it to the secretary general. They are examining it. A decision will be taken in a day or two," Mahajan told media persons.

"This is not a big issue. If there will be nothing (serious), there will be no case of (parliamentary) privilege (involved)," she said.

According to sources, Vadra, in his three-page reply, offered no apologies and invoked his "fundamental right to expression".

He said that as a citizen of India, he had the highest regard for parliament.

The Lok Sabha secretariat sought an explanation from Vadra for his Facebook comment allegedly criticising the functioning of parliament.

In an apparent bid to counter the opposition demand for the resignations of BJP ministers, two party parliamentarians moved a privilege motion against Vadra on July 23.

The motion was moved by Arjun Ram Meghwal, BJP chief whip in the Lok Sabha, and Prahlad Joshi, Lok Sabha member from Dharwad, Karnataka.

Vadra, whose land deals in Haryana and Rajasthan are being probed, talked about "diversionary politics" and "so-called leaders" in his Facebook post on July 21, the first day of the monsoon session of parliament.

"Parliament begins and so does their petty diversionary political tactics. People of India are not fooled. Regret to see India led by such so called leaders," Vadra tweeted. - IANS