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House in turmoil yet again over Srikrishna report

The Opposition's demand for tabling the Srikrishna Commission's report into the Bombay riots of 1992-93 today took a dramatic turn in the legislative assembly, as Samajwadi Party and Janata Dal members, dressed like advocates, reached the speaker's table and placed 'a mock commission's report' there, which plunged the House into turmoil and forced the speaker to adjourn the session for 15 minutes.

The trouble was sparked off immediately after question hour, when Bashir Patel, Malik Nawab, Ali Khan, Fayyaz Ahmed, Sohail Lokhandwala (all SP) and Nihal Ahmed (JD) suddenly appeared in the House shouting slogans, and moved towards Speaker Datta Nalawade's table and put "a mock book of the report", which at once created an uproar in the House. All the six members, dressed similarly, also displayed paper and cloth banners and attempted to stall the proceedings.

Pandemonium broke out in the House when members of the Treasury benches trooped to near the podium in a bid to prevent the Opposition from going ahead with their disruptive tactics. Some of the members, including Kirit Somayya, Girish Bapat, Jaichand Kasliwal (all BJP) and others, pulled the paper banners from the speaker's table and tore them up.

Slogan-shouting from both sides rent the air and amid utter commotion the speaker went through the day's business, before adjourning the House for 15 minutes.

UNI

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