Both Houses adjourned again amid continued din by Oppn
RS suspends TMC MP for breaking the glass of a door of the Chamber; protesting members enter Well of the House in LS
NEW DELHI: The Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha proceedings have been adjourned on Thursday amid Opposition protests over Pegasus scandal and other issues.
Rajya Sabha saw two adjournments in the pre-noon session today after a row broke out over a suspended Trinamool Congress MP breaking the glass of a door of the Chamber, an act that the chair called “highly deplorable and condemnable”. The Rajya Sabha was first adjourned for 15 minutes, then till noon and then again till 2pm.
Deputy chairman Harivansh, who was in the chair, adjourned the proceedings of the House for half an hour following the protest and sloganeering by the Opposition. Several Opposition members, who has rushed to the Well of the House, tried to disrupt the proceedings. The Upper House was debating on the Essential Defence Services Bill, 2021. This is the third adjournment of the House on Thursday.
Earlier, the House saw two adjournments in the pre-noon session after a row broke out over a suspended TMC MP breaking the glass of a door of the Chamber, an act that the chair called “highly deplorable and condemnable”.
While deputy chairman Harivansh said the unnamed TMC MP broke the glass after she was stopped from entering the House after it was adjourned for the day on Wednesday, TMC leader Sukhendu Sekhar Roy said the MP concerned was suspended for the remainder of the sitting of the House and she had gone to fetch her bag after the proceedings were adjourned for the day.
On Wednesday, Rajya Sabha chairman M Venkaiah Naidu had suspended six TMC MPs for the day for carrying placards into the well of the House while protesting along with other opposition MPs over the Pegasus issue.
The Pegasus row erupted on July 18 after an international investigative consortium reported that many Indian ministers, politicians, activists, businessmen and journalists were among the 50,000 numbers that were potentially targeted by Israeli company NSO Group’s phone hacking software, Pegasus, with a forensic analysis of 10 of the targets proving they had been hacked or that there had been attempts to do so.
Lok Sabha proceedings were adjourned for the day on Thursday amid continuous disruptions. Rama Devi, who was in the chair, requested the protesting members to go back to their seats and allow the smooth functioning of the proceedings. As the sloganeering continued, Devi adjourned the House. What would people think about these disruptions, she said, urging the Opposition members to go back to their seats.
As the uproar by the Opposition over issues such as the Pegasus snooping row and the farmers’ bills continued, Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, who was chairing the proceedings, adjourned the House till 4 pm.
When the Question Hour commenced, Opposition parties started protesting again and many members trooped into the Well of the House, shouting slogans and displaying placards.
Amid the din, at least 10 questions and supplementaries were taken up. While urging the protesting members to go back to their seats, Birla said important issues are being discussed in the Question Hour and that they were not asking questions but only indulging in sloganeering.
“This is not appropriate for Parliament traditions,” said the Speaker and stressed that people want the House to run in accordance with traditions and rules.
When the House met at 5 pm, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman rose to introduce the Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021.
Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhary said bills were being passed in the House without a debate at an average time of seven minutes a bill. Later, the Bill was introduced by a voice vote.
Devi then adjourned the proceedings for the day.