Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah's National Conference on Monday moved a breach of privilege motion in the Legislative Assembly against the former Army chief Gen (red.) V.K. Singh for his purported statement that Army had been transferring secret funds to ministers in the state since 1947.
While speaking on an obituary reference on the first day of the autumn session in the Assembly, Minister of Law Mir Saifullah and Minister of Finance Abdul Rahim Rather disclosed that the NC ministers and MLAs had submitted the privilege motion against Gen. Singh as the former Army chief's statement in media and public had "discredited the democratic institutions not only in the state but also at the national level".
The NC ministers and MLAs said that not only the ministers of successive governments but also the Government of India, "including army, which everybody respected as the most apolitical institution of the country", had been smeared by Gen Singh's statements.
Earlier, the opposition Peoples Democratic Party leader Mehbooba Mufti and the CPI (M) leader Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami demanded unanimous passage of a resolution asking the Centre to constitute a credible inquiry into Gen. Singh's allegations. If anybody has committed mistake, their names should be known by the people. "Otherwise the people who have elected us will not have faith in any one of us", they said.
Mr. Rather made clear that his party as well as its coalition partner Congress were fully supporting Ms. Mehbooba's and Mr. Tarigami's demand. He demanded a detailed discussion on the situation created by Gen. Singh's statements.
Speaker Mubarak Gul assured the House that he would take appropriate decision on the NC's motion and Ms. Mufti's demand on the issue, after properly examining the privilege motion.
Chief Minister was absent from the proceedings though Minister of Agriculture and an associate member of Congress Ghulam Hassan Mir, who is facing allegation of having secretly received an amount of Rs.1.19 crore from the Army, was present when the members across party affiliations expressed concern over Gen Singh's statements and demanded the state Legislature proceed under the former Army chief under rules.
