Recovery of ₹50,000 stirs Parliament row

A political storm rocked Parliament on Friday after Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar announced that an unclaimed wad of currency notes was apparently found from an Upper House seat allotted to Congress member Abhishek Singhvi, triggering protests from the Congress and the senior lawmaker.

- Smriti Kak Ramachandran and Saubhadra Chatterji

Singhvi termed the incident "bizarre" and demanded a probe into what he described as a "security lapse". Both Houses of Parliament were later adjourned after the ruling side and the Opposition traded barbs.

Addressing the members of the Upper House soon after papers were laid in the morning, Dhankhar said an anti-sabotage team, while carrying out the mandatory search inside the House on Thursday, found a wad of currency notes from seat number 222 allotted to Singhvi.

"During the routine anti-sabotage check after the adjournment of the House yesterday, apparently a wad of currency notes was recovered by the security officials from seat number 222 presently allotted to Abhishek Manu Singhvi, elected from the state of Telangana," he said.

An investigation was ordered in accordance with practice, he said, adding that it was not clear if the currency notes were real or fake. He added that the money recovered was "apparently 100 notes of Rs 500 denomination".

"It was my duty and I'm obliged to inform the House. This is a routine anti-sabotage check which takes place," he said.

Dhankhar did not give the details about the amount of cash recovered.

The statement caused a furore in the House with protests from the Opposition.

Singhvi said he was astonished to hear about the cash recovery. "Yesterday [Thursday], I reached inside the House at 12.57 in the afternoon. The House closes at 1pm. From 1 to 1.30, I sat with Ayodhya Prasad in the canteen and had lunch. At 1.30, I left Parliament. So, my total stay in the House was three minutes and 30 minutes in the canteen yesterday. I find it bizarre that even on such an issue politics is raised," said Singhvi.

Later, he spoke in detail about the incident.