Somnath presides over post-recess Budget Session

New Delhi, May 10 (UNI) Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, who did not attend the last days of the pre-recess Budget Session in the wake of office-of-profit controversy, returned to the House today.

Presiding over the post-recess Budget proceedings, he read out obituary references for Pramod Mahajan, Bansi Lal and others, and condemned the killing of Indian engineer K Suryanarayan in Afghanistan, the death of 58 people in a fire in Meerut and the killing of 20 innocents by militants in Jammu and Kashmir, before adjourning the House for the day.

''There are well established conventions in the Constitution on the matter,'' Mr Chatterjee had said yesterday when his attention was drawn to reports that he was reluctant to preside over the House.

Mr Chatterjee is accused of holding an office of profit by being chairman of the Shantiniketan Trust in West Bengal.

UNI YJ VD RN1323