Hyderabad: Rajya Sabha deputy chairman P.J. Kurien on Tuesday assured senior Congress member V. Hanumantha Rao that he will look into the privilege notice served against Union parliamentary affairs minister M. Venkaiah Naidu.

Mr Rao had earlier submitted a petition seeking an enquiry by the Privilege Committee on the reported insulting comments made by Mr Naidu against him.

When the Rajya Sabha Winter Session came to close on Tuesday, Mr Rao enquired what happened to his notice and whether it is being referred to the Privilege Committee or not. Mr Kurien told him that he would verify the records and take a decision.

Angered by this, Mr Rao, supported by Ghulam Nabi Azad, Sitaram Yechury, Naresh Agarwal informed the Chair that Mr Naidu had deliberately spread a false information against him to damage his reputation.

However, Mr Naidu said that he had not made any comment against Mr Rao in the House.

Refuting Mr Naidu’s claim, Mr Rao informed the Chair that though he did not utter anything against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the House, Mr Naidu told the media outside the House that a member, who was suspended from the House, had made derogatory comments against Mr Modi and it was below his dignity to name the leader.

Mr Rao said, “On that day I was suspended from the House and it was obvious that Mr Naidu mentioned about me and tried to malign me in the eyes of public.”

After repeated interruptions in the House, Mr Kurien announced he will look into the details of the petition and then take a decision on whether to refer his petition to the Privilege Committee for its consideration or not.