In a stormy start to the second leg of the Budget session, the NDA today forced adjournment of both Houses over the issue of the Government’s second affidavit in the Supreme Court on defence purchases during the Kargil conflict. And to prevent a repetition of what happened in the House today, Speaker Somnath Chatterjee asked the Lok Sabha Secretariat to write to the Government to find out when it plans to table the Phukan Commission report on defence deals entered during the tenure of George Fernandes as Defence Minister. The Sunday Express reported recently that the Phukan Commission had cleared Fernandes but had held some officials responsible for lapses in the multi-million dollar deals that figured in conversations during the Tehelka sting operation. Chatterjee’s instruction to the LS secretariat—it later sent a letter to the Parliamentary Affairs Ministry—came after he received a letter from Fernandes who demanded that the Phukan report be tabled in Parliament and the Government explain its position on it. ‘‘I instructed my office to write a letter and find out the Government’s plan on the Phukan Commission report. It was after I received a letter from Fernandes. But I have not written any letter myself,’’ Chatterjee said. With angry NDA members stalling proceedings today, Chatterjee adjourned the House for the day but not before giving a ‘‘public notice’’ that he would not do so from tomorrow ‘‘come what may’’. Similar scenes were witnessed in the Rajya Sabha which too was adjourned for the day after an earlier adjournment failed to cool down frayed tempers. Soon after the issue of the second affidavit rocked the two Houses, Union ministers Pranab Mukherjee and Ghulam Nabi Azad had a meeting with Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Official sources said that Mukherjee would be making a statement in the Lok Sabha on the Phukan Commission and the affidavit tomorrow. Earlier, in the Lok Sabha today, Mukherjee offered a ‘‘full-fledged discussion’’ on the matter in ‘‘any form.’’ ‘‘The discussion can take place this afternoon,’’ he told the Opposition which did not relent. Later in the day, the NDA decided to press the Government to table the reports of both the CVC and the Phukan Commission. ‘‘The functioning of Parliament tomorrow depends upon the Government response to our demand,’’ BJP deputy leader Vijay Kumar Malhotra told The Indian Express after a meeting of NDA leaders. When he was reminded about the Speaker’s remark that he would not adjourn the House from tomorrow ‘‘come what may,’’ Malhotra said: ‘‘How can a Speaker do this?’’
