NC worker death: J-K Assembly adjourns sine die amid PDP uproar

The Jammu and Kashmir Assembly was today adjourned sine die amid strong protests by Opposition PDP demanding a discussion on the death of a National

Conference worker allegedly in police custody last week.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) MLAs had moved a fresh adjournment motion notice demanding that the House should debate the September 30 death of Syed Mohammad Yousuf as there were allegations of the chief minister's office being involved in it.

However, Speaker Mohammad Akbar Lone rejected the PDP demand saying there was nothing new in their notice than the one rejected by him yesterday.

"A discussion on the matter is hardly justified at this stage and can prove counter-productive as the state government has requested the Chief Justice of the J-K High Court to appoint a sitting High Court judge to probe the matter," Lone said.

Angry PDP members stormed the Well of the House, raising slogans protesting against the Speaker's decision. Initially, the Opposition members were demanding discussion into Yousuf's death but as the Speaker did not allow them even to speak, they started protesting against the Chair.

Quoting newspaper reports, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti said a discussion had become "extremely inevitable", saying the High Court had refused to entertain the state government's request for conducting a probe by a sitting judge.

However, the Speaker remained steadfast on his decision that no issue which is sub-judice can be discussed in the House.

Senior PDP leader Muzaffar Hussain Baig contested the Speaker's ruling saying if the 2G scam can be debated in Parliament while being heard by the Supreme Court, why this matter cannot be taken up by the Assembly.

National Panthers Party (NPP) leader Harsh Dev Singh and CPI(M) MLA M Y Tarigami supported the demand for discussion in the House.

"The matter is not yet under the purview of judicial inquiry as the same has not been established yet. There should be no hesitation in discussing the issue," Singh said.

... contd.

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