Speaker Somnath Chatterjee informed the Lok Sabha on Monday that a notice for breach of privilege against Union Minister Ajay Maken was under consideration.

The Speaker said he had received the notice against Maken for going to the press on an issue raised in the house. "The matter is under my consideration," he said.

Biju Janata Dal member Arjun Charan Sethi gave the notice following a discussion in the house last week when BJD and Bharatiya Janata Dal members from Orissa charged Maken, who is in charge of Congress affairs in the state, with writing a letter asking party MLAs to stall assembly proceedings to press for certain demands.

The Speaker had then taken a dim view of the issue, observing that 'temples of democracy' should not be disrupted.

Following this, Maken had reportedly made a statement to the media clarifying his position, saying he was aware of his responsibility being a former Speaker of the Delhi assembly.

The letter was written in his capacity as in-charge of the party in the state, Maken had stated. The issue had led to a brief adjournment of the house with BJD and BJP members from Orissa trooping into the well.