‘Out of order’ Oppn holds up budget by an hour

Speaker Manohar Joshi rejected Opposition points of order and ruled that they were ‘‘out of order’’. He said: ‘‘It is not treated as a fresh session. This session can be treated as the second part of the Winter Session.’’

Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee, Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani and Leader of the Opposition Sonia Gandhi were present. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Law Minister Arun Jaitley contested the Opposition’s stand, while HRD Minister Murli Manohar Joshi, target of Chatterjee’s swipes, tried to combat him in between the speeches.

Swaraj reminded Dasmunsi that the expression interim budget was also used by in 1996-97 by then Finance Minister Manmohan Singh. Since the House had not been prorogued, the Winter Session was continuing. Quoting from a book by Kaul and Shakdhar, she said if the House, after being adjourned sine die, is reconvened, it is called the second part of the last session. ‘‘This is the second part of the session,’’ she said, maintaining that ‘‘it is an open-and-shut-case’’.

Earlier, Chatterjee said the first session in a year had to commence with an address by the President. ‘‘It is a new session and the first session,’’ he maintained. Citing a Calcutta High Court judgment, he said House proceedings, if not conducted in accordance with the Constitution and rules, can be held illegal. ‘‘It is an unconstitutional sitting,’’ he claimed. Patil said the Government must state whether or not ‘‘this is the first session of the year’’.

Chandrashekhar said there was no doubt that this was the year’s first session. Challenging the Government stand, he said: ‘‘Democracy cannot be run through falsehood.’’