The Justice Ranjit Singh Commission report on sacrilege incidents and the role of police officers behind the Kotkapura and Behbal Kalan firings that followed the Bargari sacrilege will be tabled on the floor of the House on August 27. The ensuing debate on the report will be held on August 28.
The decision was part of the proceedings of the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha that met on Friday. The committee approved a single afternoon sitting for August 27 and single morning sitting for August 28. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Brahm Mohindra said the sittings had not been extended as no such request was forwarded by the Opposition benches.
To politically cash on the emotive issue of sacrilege, the Congress Legislative Party (CLP) has decided to approach the Speaker to allow live telecast of the debate after tabling of the commission’s report. In all likelihood, the Speaker is expected to allow live telecast by a few selected channels.
As some senior ministers and ‘firebrand’ youth MLAs have been asked to hold the fort during the debate on August 28, the sitting of the concluding day of the session is likely to be extended to allow all the speakers on the Treasury benches to fire their arsenal. Brahm Mohindra said all the MLAs, irrespective of the party, would be allowed to speak during the open debate on the commission’s report. The Chief Ministers would conclude the debate while tabling the action taken report on the issue.
In the BAC meeting, Speaker Rana KP Singh, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Brahm Mohindra, Forest Minister Sadhu Singh Dharamsot, MLA Kushaldeep Dhillon, Akali MLA Sharanjit Singh Dhillon, and AAP’s Leader of Opposition Harpal Singh Cheema participated.
Earlier, former Leader of Opposition Sukhpal Khaira said the two-day session was inadequate to even discuss 500-page report on sacrilege incidents. The debate and the action taken report on the commission’s report should be held on two different days.
