HP:BJP walks out of Assembly after adjournment motion rejected

BJP MLAs in Himachal Pradesh Assembly today staged a walkout after after the Speaker rejected their notice for adjournment motion to discuss the attachment of assets of Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh by Enforcement Directorate (ED).
As soon as the House re-assembled after the nine-day recess, BJP MLA Rajeev Bindal sought to know the fate ofhis adjournment motion notice in the assembly, saying the matter was important and warranted discussion.
Before he could speak on the subject, Speaker Brij Bihari Lal Butail said he had received the notice by BJP members, Bindal and Mahender Thakur for adjournment motion to discuss the issue of ED proceedings against the CM but has rejected the motion and no discussion can be allowed.

Citing that the matter was in public domain and can be debated, Bindal requested the Speaker to allow the discussion, to which Butail cited rule 70and maintained that adjournment motion on matters pending before any statutory body, commission of inquiry or court shall ordinarily not be permitted to be discussed in the House.
However, Leader of Opposition Prem Kumar Dhumal said the situation was extraordinary as the ED had attached the property of a sitting chief minister and the Speaker can allow discussion on it.
Dhumal said chief minister Virbhadra Singh had been speaking on the issue from public platforms and alleging that BJP had a hand in ED action against him.

The Speaker was, however, unrelenting and said the Opposition should not draw any inference from action of the ED, which is a statutory body, and the matter would finally be decided by the court.

Agitated BJP member Suresh Bharadwaj said the ED was an investigating agency and not a judicial body and any matter which is being probed by the Police, CBI or any other investigating agency can be discussed in the Assembly.
As theSpeaker proceeded with the Question Hour, the BJP members started raising slogans and, after the Chair finally ruled out allowing the adjournment motion, they stage a walkout.

The BJP members returned to the House after the Question Hour and participated in discussions on demands for grants.