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RJD walks out of Lok Sabha over verdict favouring CBI joint director

The Rashtriya Janata Dal and three other Opposition parties walked out of the Lok Sabha today to protest the central government's indecision about going in appeal against a Calcutta high court order setting aside proceedings against Central Bureau of Investigation Joint Director U N Biswas.

Defence Minister George Fernandes and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Madan Lal Khurana's statements that the government was studying the issue and had time to appeal till August 12 did not pacify Laloo Prasad Yadav, Mulayam Singh Yadav, G M Banatwala and other Opposition members who said the government had failed to come up with an assurance despite a statement to this effect in the House yesterday.

Both Khurana and Fernandes said the prerogative of whether to appeal or not lay with the Centre, and therefore these issues could only be decided through proper legal opinion and not under pressure.

Joining ranks with the RJD were the Samajwadi Party, the Indian Union Muslim League and the Republican Party of India.

There was an uproar from the Opposition benches after Khurana's statement. M A A Fatmi (RJD) and Mulayam Singh Yadav (SP) said the government's response amounted to total inaction. Laloo Yadav (RJD) said the issue was vital not because he was involved, but because it related to the Centre and the CBI.

Intervening in the discussion, Fernandes said it was clear that Biswas had the permission of the Patna high court, which had told him he could seek army assistance if the police help was inadequate. The Calcutta high court said the Centre had acted illegally in taking action against Biswas. Thus, ''the attitude of the courts and the government are different,'' he added. He said he had been fighting for four years to ensure that those who had cheated the treasury in Bihar were brought to book.

Raghuvansh Prasad Singh (RJD) said the issue was of which judgment would prevail -- that of the high court or of the Supreme Court. Professor P J Kurien (Congress) said it was not the matter of one individual but of whether a civil servant could call the army. This could not be taken lightly.

Satyapal Jain (BJP) said this was a legal issue and therefore could not be decided politically. He felt the government should be given adequate time to take a firm decision.

Former prime minister Chandra Shekhar today appealed to the government to move the Supreme Court against the Calcutta high court order in the U N Biswas case.

The issue had rocked the Lok Sabha yesterday with RJD members demanding that the government appeal against the order that quashed departmental proceedings against Biswas, a CBI joint director, who had sought the army's help last year to arrest former Bihar chief minister Laloo Yadav in the fodder scam. Subsequently the House had to be adjourned twice.

In a statement from Ballia, UP, Shekhar said it was unfortunate that even on a matter on which the House should have a unanimous opinion, unnecessary controversy was being created and it seemed that the proceedings of the House were ''drifting day-by-day.''

''It is not a question of any individual, but it is a matter which concerns the very fundamentals of democratic functioning. The Calcutta high court has taken some decisions and the government is hesitating to go into appeal against the decision in the Supreme Court.

''It will be only proper for the government that it does not make it a partisan issue. In the best interest of parliamentary functioning it should get the verdict of the highest court on such a vital issue which has far reaching implications for the future, '' he said.

UNI

EARLIER REPORTS:

Laloo regains hold; guns for CBI official
Supreme Court pulls up Patna high court in Laloo case
Biswas was in a hurry to arrest Laloo: Gupta

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