Departing from routine, when the question hour began, leader of the opposition Madhukar Pichad was permitted to make a statement on yesterday's unruly scenes of protest, dharna and slogan shouting in the house on the arrest of Congress member Bhanudas Murkute in a case which a court later dismissed as a politically motivated one.

Pichad said it was an important issue as such cases could be used to prevent MLAs from functioning or even contesting elections. A wider view of the issue should be taken and the Speaker should take measures to prevent such cases in future, he said, adding that all would abide by the Speaker's ruling.

Chief Minister Manohar Joshi agreed that it was a serious matter and requested the Speaker to gointo the issue and set a precedent for healthy functioning of the House.

Speaker Datta Nalawade, thanking the members for the confidence reposed in him, said he would give his ruling before the end of the session tomorrow.

Yesterday, the entire opposition staged a dharna in the well of the House, which was adjourned thrice for a total of 45 minutes, demanding that the breach of privilege motion raised by Murkute be referred to the privileges committee of the House. Pichad, quoted the judgement as saying that the police had ``abused the process of law'' that the case against the MLA was foisted ``under pressure from political higher-ups''.

The court, he said, also declared that police and courts should not be used for playing politics and that there was no evidence or material on record to prove any of the charges against Murkute. There was no appeal by the police, he said.