The BJP is no mood to allow the Parliament to function if law Minister Ashwani Kumar does not clarify charges of alleged vetting of the CBI’s report on the coal scam.
Adding to the Government’s troubles is a TV channel report that the CBI was set to tell the Supreme Court that the law Minister did interfere with the report.
On a day when Ashwani Kumar virtually went into hiding, Rajya Sabha saw vociferous demands for his personal appearance before the House.
When Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Rajiv Shukla said he would have to locate the Minister and check with him whether he was available for making a statement, leader of Opposition Arun Jaitley retorted that he hoped the Government would find the law Minister before the CBI filed its affidavit in the Supreme Court.
BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu quipped that it looked like Minister for Personnel V Narayansamy would have to ask the CBI to find out the whereabouts of the law Minister.
In the midst of all this, CNN-IBN reported that the CBI, in an affidavit, is set to tell the Supreme Court that the probe agency’s report on coal block allocation scam was shared with the law Ministry on its request and the latter had also vetted the report.
The channel claimed that the CBI affidavit will also include the original status report on the coal block allocation scam, which concluded that there was a lack of transparency in the Centre’s coal policy. The role of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and the Government in coal allocations is also part of the CBI report.
Rajya Sabha was rocked over the issue with the Opposition and Treasury benches strongly differing on rules for suspending the Question Hour to discuss the Government’s alleged interference in preparing the CBI report and summoning the law Minister for personal clarifications.
Taking a tough stand on the twin issues, the BJP said unless Ashwani Kumar clarified his stand in Parliament, the House will not function.
“If the Government is not ready for a fair debate on this issue, the Opposition cannot be expected to cooperate in the smooth functioning of the Hosue,” Deputy leader of BJP in Rajya Sabha Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters.
A motion for suspension of Question Hour moved by V Maitreyan (AIADMK) was declared infructuous by Deputy Chairman PJ Kurien on the grounds that the matter ended at 12 noon with the Question Hour. “That motion has become infructuous because Question Hour is over. Whether it was voted or not, that issue has become infructuous at 12 o’clock,” Kurien said.
Chairman Hamid Ansari had admitted Maitreyan’s motion out of eight notices received by the Chair on various issues. Ravi Shankar Prasad and DMK leader T Shiva pointed out that they had also given a notice for suspension of Question Hour to discuss alleged leakage of the JPC report on the 2G scam.
As the Opposition and Treasury stuck to their respective stands on suspension of Question Hour to discuss coalgate and voice vote could not lead to any conclusion, the Chair had to adjourn the House at least three times before the lunch session, with AIADMK and BJP members trooping into the Well of the House to register their protest.
The Chair then sought the House’s permission on Maitreyan’s motion and both the Opposition and Treasury benches vociferously registered “ayes” and “noes” respectively. Ansari then said voting on the motion was the only option as the AIADMK member was not willing to withdraw the motion.
This saw sharp exchanges between the Opposition and Treasury and Jaitley said the only way to break the stalemate was to seek a suo moto statement from the law Minister and the Prime Minister as the members then could seek clarifications.
However, the issue could not be resolved with several members including Naresh Aggarwal (SP) and others stating that voting on motion of suspension of Question Hour will set a wrong precedent. Finally, voting could not take place as the Question Hour got over.
Maitreyan demanded that the law Minister be “summoned” in the House and asked to explain his position on alleged interference in the CBI report and Jaitley again asked the Government to make a suo motu statement on the issue if it has nothing to hide.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath said the Government was ready for a discussion on the issue but would take up the discussion on atrocities on women first as allowed by the Chairman.
Najma Heptulla (BJP) raised the issue of propriety saying the House has the right to know the decision on Maitreyan’s motion, Tiruchi Siva (DMK) said: “You are giving priority to one issue and dumping others.”
The Deputy Chairman tried to restore order and then adjourned the House for 30 minutes at 12.10 pm and then till 2.00 pm at 12.45 pm when the members did not relent. He also said the Chair cannot direct the Government to summon a Minister to the House.