Lok Sabha proceedings were adjourned till 2 pm on Friday due to opposition protests demanding a joint parliamentary committee probe into the fraud-allegation-triggered rout in Adani Group company stocks.
Soon after the House met for the day, opposition members were on their feet shouting slogans and demanding a probe into the tanking of the Adani Group scrips and sought a probe into the business practices of the corporate giant. Speaker Om Birla appealed to members to participate in the discussions during the Question Hour, which he termed as significant. He said the House will take up the Motion of Thanks to the president for her address at the beginning of the Budget session.
Birla said as it was the first address to the joint sitting of the House by the country's first tribal woman president, all members should participate in it. He said he was ready to give the opposition enough time to raise their issues if they give proper notice.
However, an unrelenting opposition continued their protests and sloganeering, forcing the Speaker to adjourn the proceedings till 2 pm. Adani Group stocks have taken a beating on the bourses after the US short-seller Hindenburg Research made a litany of allegations last week in its report, including fraudulent transactions and share price manipulation at the Gautam Adani-led group, which has denied the charges.
The market losses of the Adani Group have risen to nearly USD 103 billion (about Rs 8.5 lakh crore).
