Former defence minister George Fernandes' allegation in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday that the ruling United Progressive Alliance government is not concerned with the safety and security of the country led to uproarious scenes in the House.
Fernandes was referring to the government not tabling the Phukan Commission and Central Vigilance Commission reports on Kargil arms purchases in the House.
Fernandes said he was accused of 'being a thief' when, as defence minister in the National Democratic Alliance government, he had refused to hand over the CVC report to the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament citing national security as the reason.
"Time and again, when I said the report cannot be tabled, they continued their tirade. I know what is in the report and you (government) also know that. Then why not make it public?" The government is not concerned with national safety and security of the country, he added.
This had members belonging to the treasury benches raising slogans against Fernandes. Those belonging to opposition NDA countered it resulting in a din in the House. Speaker Somnath Chatterjee's repeated appeals to the members to restore order fell on deaf ears.
Earlier, raising the issue, Leader of the Opposition Lal Kishenchand Advani insisted that without the tabling of the two reports a debate on the Kargil arms deals issue would have no relevance.
Countering this, Leader of the House Pranab Mukherjee questioned why the previous government had refused to provide the CVC report to the PAC. As the din continued, the Speaker asked Mukherjee to table his statement regarding the affidavit filed by the government before the Supreme Court on the arms procurement done for Operation Vijay during the Kargil conflict and adjourned the House for an hour.
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