KL NEWS NETWORK
SRINAGAR
Lawmakers cornered government over its failure in not preventing the officers from taking the house for a ride. They detailed a case of mining permission at a time when SRO-105 was put on hold to a non-state subject in Ravi river.
The sensational exposure led to ruckus in the house and the Speaker ruled that the officials involved in granted the permission should immediately be placed under suspension, an enquiry conducted and the impugned orders revoked immediately.
The issue was raised by Communist lawmaker Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami within seconds after the house resumed. He said that even after a House Committee led by Mohammad Akbar Lone was looking into the SRO 105 and the government had already withdrawn the controversial clauses from the SRO, the officials have not stopped implementing the order. He said that Mohan Pal Singh of Chandigarh was granted a mining order over 40 hectors in two pockets in Ravi river by the Geology and Mining Department on June 22, 2016.
“This is a grave issue of disrespect and the government is not taking this house seriously,” Tarigami shouted with the entire opposition stands in chorus.
Within seconds, a ruling BJP lawmaker who represents the particular area told the house that it was does in grave disrespect to the house. The court had stayed the SRO on April 22 making the matter subjudice, he said. But the lawmaker shocked the house by saying that the geology department in violation of the order issued the order on May 12. This is a grave violation and the House was taken for granted, Jasrotia said.
Lone, who heads the House Committee sought resignation of the industries minister, immediate suspension of the two administrative secretaries linked to the controversial order and immediate revocation of the orders. He demanded privilege motion against the minister.
The crisis complicated when Minister Basharat Bukhari threw his weight behind the sanctity of the house and asked the minister to take immediate action against the officers responsible for the orders.
Minister C P Ganga assured action but was not taken seriously by the lawmakers. He said he was unaware of these orders.
Eventually Speaker Kavinder Gupta observed that the officers have been taking the House non-seriously. He ruled immediate action against the officers on Friday. This direction cooled the lawmakers who later permitted the question hour.
