Witness at Waqf panel meet threatened, alleges Tejasvi Surya

New Delhi, Oct 18 (PTI) BJP leader Tejasvi Surya has written to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla alleging some opposition members threatened Jagadambika Pal, the chairperson of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Waqf Amendment Bill, and a witness during a sitting of the panel, and also tore up documents.

Surya, a two-term MP from Bengaluru South, claimed the opposition members resorted to unparliamentary behaviour on October 14, when the Committee had called former Karnataka State Minorities Commission chairman Anwar Manipaddy to hear his views on the Waqf land "scam" in Karnataka.

The BJP leader's missive to the Speaker came days after the opposition members' letter to the Lok Sabha presiding officer alleging "gross violation of parliamentary code of conduct" by Pal during the meeting of the parliamentary panel.

In his letter to Birla, Surya said, "During his deposition, Shri Manippadi discussed a report he submitted in 2012 during his tenure. This report alleges large-scale encroachment or sale of approximately 2,000 acres of Waqf land, valued at around Rs. 2 lakh crore, to private entities, implicating certain leaders of the Indian National Congress." Surya claimed that as soon as this issue was brought to the Committee's attention, opposition members disrupted the proceedings, verbally threatened both the witness and the chairperson, and tore up committee documents.

"They also walked near to where the witness and chairperson were seated, tried to physically threaten both, snatched the notes and papers they had made and tore it," he said, adding that the opposition members' behaviour reflected a complete disregard for Parliamentary decorum.

Following this, they walked out of the meeting while making derogatory remarks towards other members present, he alleged.

Surya asked the Speaker to direct the opposition members to adhere to the Rules of Conduct and Parliamentary Etiquette, and initiate disciplinary action against those responsible for this unruly and unparliamentary behaviour. PTI

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