Quota, J&K arrests stall House on Day I

Members raise issue of courts 'encroaching' on legislature's turf.

Expectations that the second half of the budget session of Parliament would be tranquil were belied today. There was ruckus in the Lok Sabha while the Rajya Sabha was adjourned for the day after barely ninety minutes of business.

In the Lok Sabha, the Opposition was prevented from raising issues related to the arrest of BJP MP Babubhai Katara as Speaker Somnath Chatterjee stood by his stand that Katara would not be allowed to enter the Lok Sabha till leaders of the political parties discussed the matter.

The Lok Sabha is "distressed" and expresses its "firm determination to take all necessary action so that the dignity of the House is not tarnished," he said in a suo motu statement, a rare occurrence.

Before he made the statement, a few MPs tried to raise some issues, but Chatterjee was firm. "You are interrupting the Speaker. If anybody is impatient, he may leave the House," he said.

More disturbances were caused as the Speaker repeatedly remonstrated against the use of intemperate language against the judiciary on the issue of OBC quota in elite educational institutions.

There was an impromptu discussion on the court order putting on hold 27 per cent reservation for Other Backward Classes in institutions of higher education.

Despite Chatterjee's directions, speakers like Devendra Prasad Yadav of the RJD, C Kuppuswamy (DMK), L Ganesan (MDMK) and Ram Gopal Yadav (Samajwadi Party) spoke on the situation caused by the Supreme Court stay on the quota.

The members said there was need to understand that Parliament was supreme and that this (quota) law was enacted unanimously by both Houses. Devendra Prasad Yadav said a "new convention" was being set as the judgment of a nine-member Bench was being reversed by a two-member Bench.

He continued to speak on judiciary encroaching on the turf of legislature despite appeals from the Chair that there should be no reference to courts.At the end of the discussion, the Speaker observed, "Let us hope the sentiments expressed in the House will be duly noted."

The Opposition in the Rajya Sabha was incensed about supporters of the hardline faction of the Hurriyat Conference led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani shouting pro-militant slogans at a public meeting in Kashmir four days ago.

Many of the leaders were arrested today but the Opposition did not allow the government to make any statement and trooped into the well of the House, shouting slogans like "Kashmir hamara hai" and "Geelani ko hirasat mein lo".

The net result was that the Bill to amend the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) for extending it to Jammu and Kashmir, scheduled to be discussed today, could not be taken up. A dejected Rural Development Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh told Business Standard that the Opposition had missed the woods for the trees.