DEMAND DISCUSSION, PROBE: Oppn stalls Parl proceedings for second day in a row

Parliament was adjourned for the second consecutive day on Friday without transacting any business after the Opposition stepped up its demand for an independent investigation into the allegations of fraud against billionaire Gautam Adani's companies that triggered an unprecedented stock crash.

Proceedings in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha were disrupted as Opposition members raised slogans demanding a discussion and a JPC probe into the fraud-allegation-triggered rout. Speaker Om Birla's appeals to opposition members to stop their protests and sloganeering and participate in the discussions went unheeded while Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar said opposition members, who had trooped inside the well of the House, will be "dealt with".

"Those who have come in the well of the House violating the regime applicable here will be dealt with, Dhankhar said.

He said he shares the "distress and anguish" of millions of people over "the kind of lack of decorum we are exhibiting here".

Earlier in the day, Dhankhar rejected 15 adjournment notices filed by members of various opposition parties to discuss the Adani Group issue in the wake of allegations made against the conglomerate by a US-based short seller.

Rejecting the notices, he said these are not fulfilling the requirements of rule 267 and are not in conformity with the direction of the chair on December 8, 2022. This led to strong protests from opposition members.

Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, Syed Naseer Hussain, Pramod Tiwari, Kumar Ketkar, Amee Yajnik and Neeraj Dangi, John Brittas, Sanjay Singh, Santhosh Kumar P and Priyanka Chaturvedi were among those who had given notices under rule 267.