The Hindu : New Delhi News : Bid to bribe PAC members rocks Assembly

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Mar 07, 2006

New Delhi

New Delhi

Bid to bribe PAC members rocks Assembly

Staff Reporter

BJP demands probe into the whole affair

NEW DELHI: Allegations of attempts to allure members of the Delhi Assembly's Public Accounts Committee by officials of a private firm involved in the business of issuing optical smart cards for the Transport Department rocked the Assembly on Monday with the Bharatiya Janata Party members led by Jagdish Mukhi stalling the proceedings demanding a probe into the whole affair.

As soon as Question Hour began, Mr. Mukhi got up and drew the attention of the Speaker Chaudhary Prem Singh, to the issue of alleged attempts by the private company officials to bribe the PAC members into not finalising the report on Saturday. However, Mr. Singh said he would take up the matter after Question Hour and asked the BJP members to resume their seats.

Soon after Question Hour, Mr. Mukhi once again got up and urged the Speaker to look into the serious matter and protect the members from the influence of the private company officials involved in the business of issuing optical smart cards. Mr. Mukhi supported by some of his party MLAs said it was shocking that the members of the this private company -- Shonkh Technologies International Limited -- had approached the residence of some of the members and tried to lure them into not finalising the report and clearing it for adoption.

Mr. Mukhi said it had come to his knowledge that some of the PAC members had even lodged their strong protests in the minutes of the PAC meeting held on Saturday protesting the intrusion by officials of the company into the residential premises and making all kinds of offers. Another BJP member, Sahib Singh Chauhan, who also happens to be a member of the PAC, supported him in this contention. Some of the Congress members also supported the issue stating that the in view of the strong note taken by Parliament on the issue of taking bribes for asking questions, the Speaker should intervene and order an in-house inquiry to ascertain the facts so that whoever is responsible for making such blatant offers is brought to book.

The Speaker assured that he would ascertain the facts and then only take action.

This did not satisfy the BJP members who demanded that immediate note be taken of the developments and some kind of inquiry should be ordered. Soon all the BJP members present in the House were on their feet demanding an immediate inquiry. The Speaker refused to relent and requested them to allow the proceedings to go on smoothly. The BJP members were unrelenting, forcing the Speaker to name them and ask the House marshals to physically lift them out of the House.

Meanwhile, a spokesman of Shonkh Technologies International Limited clarified that they had approached some members only after seeking an appointment and to present their side of the story about the smart card issue and there was nothing more to the issue other than this.

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