Bofors Live: Left demands probe, BJP asks for judicial commission

12.45pm: The opposition jumps into the fray as the speaker of the Rajya Sabha and Mani Shankar Aiyar continue sparring over perceived comments he made during the Bofors debate. Repeated attempts to get MPs to sit down fail and the house is adjourned till 2pm. 12.35pm: Heated tempers in the Rajya Sabha with Mani Shankar Aiyar getting into a shouting match with the speaker over comments he made during the Bofors debate. The speaker said Aiyar was making personal attacks, a comment that Shankar is reacting to very violently. Shankar was responding to Opposition Leader Arun Jaitley’s opening statement in the debate. 12.32pm: The Lok Sabha has been adjourned till 2pm amidst a huge ruckus in the middle of the Bofors debate. The ruckus was triggered by Congress MP Sanjay Nirupam trying to take on the collective opposition. Repeated attempts by the speaker to restore calm in the house went unheeded. Earlier CPI(M) leader Basudev Acharya said that they would continue to raise the issue till Italian businessman Quattrocchi faces action. He also said that an Independent inquiry should be conducted into the matter. 12.17pm: Debating the Bofors issue in the Rajya Sabha, Leader of the opposition Rajya Sabha said that the entire Indian state was a mess because of Bofors, and said that every time a statement was made in public there was no new outcome. He questioned the capacity of the state to find out the truth in matters of serious public issues, and questioned the independence of investigating agencies. “I was personally aghast when I came across a statement saying that the CBI could not lawfully investigate this matter”, he said. Jaitley said that the Bofors deal highlighted the need for transparency in defense procurement, adding that it was shameful that repeated efforts were made to protect Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi. Speaking after Jaitley CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury said that anything that further comes out in the #Bofors case, has to be made public. 12.10pm: BJP leader Jaswant Singh says that the Bofors matter should not be closed because it signifies a saga of continuing corruption in the country and asked for a judicial commission to probe into the matter. “To cleanse this poison from our system please appoint a judicial commission to probe this”, he said. “I appeal to the government to do whatever it can to stop this menace”, he added. Singh was referring to earlier statements by senior Congress Minister Salman Khurshid and the CBI that the Bofors case was a closed matter and should not be investigated. “The Bofors gun is a very fine gun and good purchase. It gives me no delight to raise this issue”, he said. [caption id=“attachment_289331” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Reuters”] [/caption] 10.00am: The BJP gives notice for suspension of question hour in Parliament to discuss new revelations regarding the Bofors issue that toppled the Rajiv Gandhi government in 1989. Earlier eader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley spoke during the Parliamentary Party meeting about the allegations related to the Bofors scam made by former Swedish Police chief Sten Lindstrom in an interview. “The entire government of India at that point in time was out to save Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi, including then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi,” BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters later. The fresh allegations in relation to the Bofors scam revealed that then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had allowed a massive cover-up aimed to protecting Ottavio Quattrocchi, an Italian businessman who represented the petrochemicals firm Snamprogetti and acted as the middleman in the Bofors deal.