Pandemonium in Orissa Assembly over liquor tragedy report

Bhubaneswar, Mar 21 (UNI) Pandemonium prevailed in Orissa Assembly as Opposition insisted on the submission and debate on the report of Judicial Commission on 2001 Puri hooch tragedy.

The Opposition members rushed into the well in support of their demand during the zero hour and stalled the proceedings, forcing Speaker Maheswar Mohanty to adjourn the House for 15 minutes at 1150 hours.

The House was then adjourned twice and finally for lunch as the Speaker failed to resolve the issue in the face of an agitated Opposition sticking to their demands.

The trouble began when Congress Deputy leader Narashingha Mishra took exception to the inordinate delay in the tabling of the report of the Inquiry Commission on Puri hooch tragedy.

Alleging that the state government had been trying to buy time and avoiding to face the situation by instituting, a judicial probe into the liquor tragedies, Mr Mishra read out the report of Puri hooch tragedy and said the Commission had indicted the government.

He said despite repeated pleas, the government did not bother to table the report in the House but he managed to get a copy of the report and went on reading various observations of the Judicial Commission.

The Congress Deputy leader also alleged that in the past several judicial probes and administrative inquiries were ordered by the government but none of the reports had been placed before the House.

This clearly indicated that the government was not at all serious over the hooch tragedies or any other incidents and wanted to kill time only by announcing inquiries.

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