J-K Assembly proceedings on GST delayed due to media boycotts

A special GST session of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly was delayed for nearly two hours when the media boycotted the House and opposition parties refused to take part in it till "curbs" on reporting of the proceedings were lifted. 

After an apology from the Speaker Kavinder Gupta, the journalists later called off their stir.

Earlier, the security personnel deployed outside the Assembly complex had refused to honour vehicle passes issued to journalists, claiming that the assembly secretariat had withdrawn permission to the media to cover the proceedings.

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The journalists then decided to hold a protest against the curbs imposed on them.

As soon as the opposition members noticed the empty press gallery, they raised the issue with the speaker and demanded the immediate lifting of the curbs.

The speaker adjourned the House for 30 minutes and the secretary of the assembly, M K Singh, met the journalists in an attempt to persuade them to return to the House to cover the proceedings.

However, the journalists maintained that speaker Kavinder Gupta, being the custodian of the House, should explain to them why they were "humiliated" by the security personnel despite possessing valid passes.

In the meantime, Parliamentary Affairs Minister A R Veeri and Information Minister Choudhary Zulfikar Ali also met the protesting journalists promising an inquiry into the incident which they claimed was due to some "communication gap".

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The journalists, however, did not budge from their stand, forcing the speaker to meet them and express regret over the incident.

The journalists then returned to discharge their professional duties.