Delhi Assembly: Fine on BJP members for contempt of House

New Delhi, Mar 18 (UNI) Delhi Legislative Assembly Speaker Ch Prem Singh today imposed a fine of Rs 100 each on two BJP members for contempt of House following yesterday's incidents when Treasury and Opposition benches nearly came to blows on the floor of the House.

Angry BJP members staged a walkout of the proceedings of the house for the day.

Expressing sorrow at yesterday's incidents, Mr Singh found BJP MLAs Vijay Jolly and Karan Singh Tanwar prima facie guilty of contempt of House and imposed a fiancial penalty of Rs 100 each on them. He also repremanded the two on behalf of the House.

The Speaker imposed a further penalty of Rs 500 on Mr Jolly for moving a contempt notice following yesterday's violent incidents in the presence of Lt Governor Tejendra Khanna during his address to the house.

Reacting sharply to the Speaker's decision, Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly Jagdish Mukhi (BJP) charged the Shiela Dikshit government with trying to divert the attention of the common man from the ''burning issues'' being raised by the opposition.

The Chief Minister, too, expressed sorrow at the attitude of the Opposition in the assembly yesterday. ''It is for the first time in the history of the Delhi assembly that Opposition had used force to put across its views,'' she said.

Treasury and Opposition members came to near blows yesterday during the day one of the Budgest session of the state legislature.

As soon as the LG started his address, BJP members rushed to the Well of the House. Two BJP members, Kulwant Rana and Vijay Jolly, hung 'kurtas' painted with slogans near his chair, much to the chagrin of the ruling Congress legislators. When Congress' Bhisma Sharma tried to remove the kurta, he was pushed by Mr Jolly.

The slogans painted on the otherwise white kurtas included ''We want water, not liquor'', ''Resign if you cannot provide people with adequate water'' and ''Provide general amnesty for sealing.'' BJP's Kanwar Singh Tanwar sat near the Speaker's chair and drank water from a bottle kept on his table to protest the scarcity of water in the National Capital.

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