NEW DELHI: Speaker Somnath Chatterjee on Tuesday asked the five MPs, shown by a TV channel as having been allegedly involved in corruption in allotting work under the Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS), to stay away from the Lok Sabha pending inquiry.

A seven-member committee, headed by Pawan Kumar Bansal, will go into the sting operation.

In the Rajya Sabha, Chairman Bhairon Singh Shekhawat referred the matter to the Ethics Committee. Two Rajya Sabha members were also named in the expose.

Asked for explanations

The inquiry committee, announced by Mr. Chatterjee in the evening, has been asked to submit its report by January 31. It will be free to follow its own procedure. The five MPs have been given time till January 2 to tender explanations. The report would be presented before the House, Mr. Chatterjee said.

Besides Mr. Bansal, the committee comprises Vijay Kumar Malhotra (BJP), Mohammad Salim (CPI-M), Ramgopal Yadav (Samajwadi Party) and C. Kuppusami (DMK), who are also part of the panel looking into the cash-for-questions scam. The two other members are Prasanna Acharya (Biju Janata Dal) and Devendra Prasad Yadav (RJD).

With the latest sting operation exposing alleged corruption in the MPLADS, members across the political spectrum demanded that it be scrapped without delay. However, there was no unanimity on the issue.

The Congress stated outside the House that it would not be proper to rush to any such conclusion. CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta said he was not prepared to take the blame for the fault of some members and said he would not support the move to scrap the scheme.

In the Lok Sabha, the day began with Mr. Chatterjee's observations on the issue. Stating that he had discussed the matter with the leaders of parties and that there was agreement on the need for a probe into the allegations, he "named" the MPs — Alemao Churchill (Congress), Faggan Singh Kulaste, Ramswaroop Koli and Chandra Pratap Singh (all BJP), and Parasnath Yadav (SP) — and requested them to stay away from the proceedings.

Of the five, only Mr. Koli was present. Some members heckled him and asked him to leave. As the member, who later circulated a statement pleading innocence, refused to budge, Mr. Chatterjee said he would not be able to take part in the proceedings.

Referring the matter to the Ethics Committee, Mr. Shekhawat said in the Rajya Sabha that `Operation Chakravyuh' "certainly impacted on the dignity of Parliament." Expressing anguish, he said: "We all have been extremely outraged by this incident."

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail