Akalis protest 'less time' allotted to speak on Commission report; forces brief adjournment

The Punjab Assembly had to be adjourned briefly after the opposition SAD protested "less time" allotted to them today to speak during a debate on the Justice Ranjit Singh commission report on sacrilege incidents.

The House was adjourned for 15 minutes as the SAD protested the inadequate 14 minutes allotted to them to speak on the report.

When the Speaker announced the allocation of time to the parties, Shiromani Akali Dal raised objection.

Akali leader and former minister Bikram Singh Majithia said the allocation of 14 minutes to his party was inadequate.

The Speaker said the time was allocated according to the party's strength in the House. However, SAD legislators rushed to the well, demanding they be given more time to speak on the report.

They raised slogans, created ruckus and did not relent even after the Speaker assured them that sufficient time would be given to everyone to participate in the discussion.

The report of the one-man commission was tabled in the state assembly yesterday.

The SAD rejected the report as a "waste paper" before it was tabled and accused the commission of acting as a "Congress Sarkari Commission".

The commission was formed by the Congress government in April 2017 to investigate incidents of sacrilege of religious texts, including in village Burj Jawahar Singh Wala, Bargari and firing incidents at Kotkapura and Behbal Kalan between 2015 and 2017.

The government has announced to handover probe into Kotkapura and Behbal Kalan firing to the CBI.

In the House today, Akali leader Parminder Singh Dhindsa called the report false and demanded more time to discuss it.

As the pandemonium continued, the Speaker adjourned the House.

The Speaker has allotted 80 minutes to the ruling Congress, 21 minutes to main opposition AAP, 14 minutes to SAD, three minutes to BJP and two minutes to Lok Insaaf Party.