Explore possibility to table Shah Commission report: VP Jagdeep Dhankhar

Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar on Friday asked the government to explore the possibility of placing an authentic copy of the Shah Commission report on Emergency excesses on the table of the House, as it had investigated the "darkest period of democracy".

The Shah Commission report relates to atrocities committed during the Emergency imposed in 1975.

During the Zero Hour, Dhankhar asked the government to take note of the issue raised by Deepak Prakash, a BJP MP from Jharkhand, regarding the matter relating to the Shah Commission report.

"The government must examine the possibility of having the authentic report (of Shah Commission) and place it on the table of the House for the benefit of the members and public at large," he said.

The Shah Commission was set up to investigate the 'darkest period of democracy' and the report relates to atrocities committed during the Emergency imposed in 1975, he noted.

Earlier raising the issue, Prakash said, the Shah Commission, which was set up in 1977, conducted 100 sittings and evaluated 48,000 documents.

The final report was presented on August 6, 1978. This report was published in three volumes.

"Indira Gandhi led government came in 1980. This report was destroyed. But one copy of the Shah Commission report is available in the National Library of Australia. This report will reveal the real facts of the Emergency," he said.

He demanded that the Shah Commission report should be made public.

Meanwhile, Sushmita Deb, a Trinamool MP from West Bengal, demanded the release of funds to deal with the situation arising from Assam floods.

Harbhajan Singh, an AAP MP from Punjab, demanded to convert Bhakra Beas Management Board Hospital in Talwara into either a post graduate institute (PGI) or All India Institute of Medical Science.