Rediff.com« Back to articlePrint this article

Parliament adjourned amid chaos over security breach

December 15, 2023 15:54 IST

Both Houses of Parliament were adjourned on Friday due to continuous protests by opposition members seeking discussion and a reply from Union Home Minister Amit Shah on the Parliament security breach.

Sansad TV/ANI Photo

Lok Sabha

The lower house could not transact any business on Friday.

At 11 am, when the House met for the day, Rajendra Aggarwal adjourned the proceedings till 2 pm in less than a minute, amid slogan-shouting by opposition members who displayed placards and rushed to the Well of the House.

 

They were demanding the resignation of the Union home minister as well as his presence in the House.

As soon as the House reassembled at 2 pm after an earlier adjournment, Kirit Solanki, who was in the Chair, adjourned the proceedings for the day.

The opposition was also demanding action against Bharatiya Janata Party MP Pratap Simha, who had authorised the visitor passes for the two men who on Wednesday jumped inside the Lok Sabha chamber from the visitors' gallery with smoke canisters.

The usual laying of papers as well as standing committee reports could not be taken up on Thursday and Friday.

The three bills that seek to replace the criminal laws were listed on the agenda on Thursday and Friday. They could not be taken up for consideration.

Rajya Sabha

Proceedings of the upper house were also adjourned for the day as the Opposition parties continued with their protest demanding discussion on the security breach.

As soon as the House met at 2 pm after morning adjournments, Opposition members were up in arms again, demanding a discussion on the Wednesday security breach.

Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar adjourned the proceedings for the day as his repeated request for order in the house did not yield result.

The house will now reconvene on December 18.

Earlier in the morning session, soon after the listed papers were laid on the table of the upper house, the Chairman informed the members that he had received 23 notices under Rule 267 of the Rajya Sabha procedures for suspension of the scheduled business of the day to discuss the 'serious situation arising out of breach of security' in Parliament on December 13.

The Chairman did not approve the notices, and proceeded with the Zero Hour.

At this point, the entire Opposition members erupted in protest.

Aam Aadmi Party member Raghav Chadha tried to raise a point of order by making a hand gesture.

Dhankar objected to the gesture, and said, "Mr Chadha, you don't have to do like this (hand gesture) to raise a point of order...use your tongue...don't do it."

"... you were convicted, you were sentenced by this House," the Chairman said to him.

Chadha was suspended from the Upper House on August 11, during the Monsoon session of Parliament.

The House ended his suspension on December 4 through a motion.

The AAP member was held guilty by the Privileges Committee of presenting 'misleading' facts to the media and was allowed to attend the House proceedings after his suspension was withdrawn.

Earlier, amid the din caused by the Opposition, the Chairman had adjourned the proceedings till 2 pm.

Before adjourning the proceedings, Dhankhar asked the Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of the House Piyush Goyal, and other floor leaders to meet him in his chamber.

The House had witnessed repeated adjournments also on Thursday.

© Copyright 2024 PTI. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of PTI content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent.