New Delhi: Both Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha were adjourned on Friday till 2 and 2 30 pm respectively following an uproar by the opposition members demanding a discussion on the Adani issue.
In Rajya Sabha
Soon after the house met for the day, RS Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar rejected the 15 adjournment notices filed by members of various opposition parties to discuss the Adani group issue in the wake of allegations made against the conglomerate by a US-based short seller.
The chairman urged members of the Rajya Sabha to maintain order and allow the listed business of the House to be taken up. But unrelenting opposition members raised an uproar over the rejection of their adjournment notices.
Dhankhar told the protesting members that Parliament is the essence and the North Star of democracy. It is a place for discussion and deliberation and not a place of disturbance, he said.
“I have received 15 notices under Rule 267 from different members…I have gone through all the notices. I am unable to accede to them as these are not fulfilling the requirements of rule 267,” the chairman said, leading to uproar from opposition members.
He then adjourned the house till 2.30 pm, as opposition members continued to cause uproar.
In Lok Sabha
Soon after the House met for the day, opposition members were on their feet shouting slogans and demanding a probe into the tanking of the Adani Group scrips and sought a probe into the business practices of the corporate giant.
Speaker Om Birla appealed to members to participate in the discussions during the Question Hour, which he termed as significant.
He said the House will take up the Motion of Thanks to the president for her address at the beginning of the Budget session.
Birla said as it was the first address to the joint sitting of the House by the country’s first tribal woman president, all members should participate in it.
He said he was ready to give the opposition enough time to raise their issues if they give proper notice.
However, an unrelenting opposition continued their protests and sloganeering, forcing the Speaker to adjourn the proceedings till 2 pm.
Adani Group stocks have taken a beating on the bourses after the US short-seller Hindenburg Research made a litany of allegations last week in its report, including fraudulent transactions and share price manipulation at the Gautam Adani-led group, which has denied the charges.
The market losses of the Adani Group have risen to nearly USD 103 billion (about Rs 8.5 lakh crore).
(This copy was edited by Siasat desk).
