Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Wednesday warned members against making allegations without evidence after a Congress MP accused the government of favouring industrialist Gautam Adani.
The Speaker also said the debate on the President's address should not be centred around one individual. As the Lok Sabha debated the Motion of Thanks to the President's Address, Congress MP from Nalgonda, Telangana, N Uttam Kumar Reddy mentioned Adani, and reiterated the Opposition's demand for a probe following the Hindenburg report on the Adani Group.
"In the last 10 days 10 lakh crore of market capitalisation has collapsed...Government should agree to our demand for a JPC (Joint Parliamentary Committee) or a Supreme Court monitored probe," Reddy said. He charged that the government favoured Adani, prompting the Speaker to say that the MP should not make allegations without evidence.
"You are speaking without facts and evidence. You should maintain the decorum of the House," Birla said. Reddy, however, said he has evidence and will present it to the House.
"We are discussing the President's address but we are talking about only one person here...Maybe you like it, but the country does not," Birla said. "There is a difference between criticism and making allegations. You should criticise, but if you are making an allegation there should be evidence," he said.
Participating in the debate on Tuesday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had claimed that the meteoric rise in Adani's fortunes happened after the BJP came to power in 2014 as he rose in the global rich list from the 609th to the second spot eventually. The Congress leader's remarks drew a sharp response from the treasury benches, with Law Minister Kiren Rijiju asking him not to level "wild allegations" and furnish proof of his claims.
