The Lok Sabha, or Lower House of Parliament, was adjourned till noon on Friday, following a strident demand by the opposition for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into IPL-Gate.
As the House assembled to take up the business of the day, Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj demanded the formation of the JPC to thoroughly investigate the multi crore sports scam.
She said the JPC is the only appropriate forum to probe people named in the scam.
Swaraj said the JPC could utilise the help of multi agencies of the government.
Supporting Swaraj’s claim, Janata Dal (United) president, Sharad Yadav alleged that the IPL has become a hub for “looters” of the country’s wealth.
Yadav said the JPC is the need of the hour, as new names are coming up every day in the scam, including that of two Union Ministers and a former Union Minister.
Communist Party of India (Marxist) member Basudev Acharya recalled his participation in a JPC in 1992 to probe a security scam.
He alleged that the Union Government was sleeping when that murky deal was going on in the country.
Communist Party of India (CPI) member Gurudas Dasgupta also supported the claim of Swaraj and said the IPL-Gate was the biggest form of gambling in the history of independent India.
Replying on the issue, Finance Minister and Leader of the House Pranab Mukherjee assured that he would convey the feelings of the members to the Prime Minister.
Mukherjee said the Government has asked concerned department to conduct searches and expressed confidence that the agencies would emerge out with a detailed report soon.
Unconvinced by Mukherjee’s reply, opposition members continued to shout slogans, demanding formation of the JPC.
Amidst the sloganeering, Speaker Meira Kumar took up Question Hour and asked Health and Family Welfare Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad to give a reply to a question.
But, opposition members did not allow Azad to reply and forced Speaker Kumar to adjourn the House till noon.
