Ruckus In Puducherry Assembly Over Discussion On PWD Official's Arrest, DMK's LoP Evicted

Puducherry Assembly session began with opposition members demanding a discussion on CBI's arrest of PWD officials.

Puducherry Assembly LoP R Siva being evicted from the House during a protest by opposition legislators over the arrest of top PWD officials in Karaikal, Puducherry.

Source : PTI

Puducherry, March 24 (PTI) Puducherry Assembly got off to a noisy start on Monday as opposition legislators from the DMK and Congress loudly urged Speaker R Selvam to adjourn all scheduled business to discuss the 'burning issue' of the CBI's arrest of top State PWD officials in Karaikal.

On speaker's order, Leader of Opposition (LoP) R Siva of DMK was evicted from the House.

As soon as the House began its session, the Speaker announced that the first part of the day's proceedings would be 'question and answer' and asked the concerned Minister to present the replies.

But the LoP Siva rose to urge the chair to adjourn all the scheduled business. "CBI's arrest of PWD Chief Engineer in a bribery case on Sunday has been rocking the entire Puducherry. This is a very urgent issue and the House should discuss the matter," he said.

The Speaker however asked Siva to let the House take up 'question and answer' first as scheduled. But the DMK leader insisted on adjourning the other businesses to facilitate the debate on CBI arrest of the Chief Engineer in an alleged bribery case related to implementation of infrastructure development.

Siva, along with legislators of his party and Congress, rushed towards the podium. They squatted in the well of the House in a bid to urge the chair to discuss the arrest of officials by CBI.

Siva said that the office of the Chief Engineer in Puducherry was sealed by the CBI as part of the action to seize documents with regard to the allegation of corruption involving the implementation of government projects in Karaikal.

The House was drowned in noisy scenes and the Speaker directed the watch and ward of the House to lift the agitating members and take them out of the House. Siva wanted the concerned Minister holding PWD portfolio to resign.

Some four watch and ward staff were seen evicting Siva from the House. The Speaker kept telling the opposition members that there was no provision in the rules to adjourn the proceedings.

After the question hour, the Speaker however made an appeal to the DMK and Congress legislators to come back to the House and participate in the proceedings. The Speaker's appeal came in response to the plea made by the DMK Deputy opposition leader A M H Nazeem who arrived late. He and another DMK member Nagathiagarajan staged a walk out. All the opposition legislators returned to the House an hour later after the question hour.

The CBI had arrested the Chief Engineer and the Executive Engineer of PWD in Karaikal apart from a private contractor for allegedly indulging in corruption in the implementation of the infrastructure projects in Karaikal. The CBI booked a case against the three individuals and produced them before a local court in Karaikal on Sunday. The three persons were remanded to judicial custody. PTI CORR ADB

Disclaimer: (This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)