Cong gives adjournment notices in LS over Cyclone Michaung, ex-Navy men in Qatar

New Delhi: Congress leaders Manickam Tagore and Manish Tewari on Tuesday gave adjournment notices in the Lok Sabha to discuss the impact of Cyclone Michaung in Chennai and a discussion on the retired-Indian Navy personnel imprisoned in Qatar.

Tagore in his adjournment notice said, "I hereby give notice of my intention to ask for leave to move a motion for the adjournment of the business of the house for the purpose of discussing a definite matter of urgent importance, namely -- I move an adjournment motion to address the severe impact of heavy rainfall in Chennai, with a recorded 47 millimetres in two days causing extensive damage to public properties and infrastructure.

"Acknowledging the swift response by the state government that prevented any loss of lives, it is imperative to discuss the situation in Parliament, especially the closure of the airport due to water on the runway, and the need for preparedness in the face of natural disasters like Cyclone Michaung," Tagore, who is the Lok Sabha MP from Tamil Nadu's Virudhu Nagar said.

Meanwhile, Tewari gave adjourned notice to have a discussion regarding the retired-Indian Navy personnel imprisoned in Qatar.

"I hereby give notice of my intention to ask for leave to move a motion for the adjournment of the business of the house for the purpose of discussing a definite matter of urgent importance, namely -- That this House do suspend Zero Hour, Question Hour, and other Businesses of the Day to have a discussion regarding the retired-Indian navy personnel imprisoned in Qatar. Captain Navtej Singh Gill, Captain Birendra Kumar Verma, Captain Saurabh Vasisht, Commander Amit Nagpal, Commander Purnendu Tiwari, Commander Sugunakar Pakala, Commander Sanjeev Gupta, and Sailor Ragesh, were sentenced by the Qatari court on October 26, 2023."

He said that he has been constantly raising this matter since August 2022 both inside and outside the House but the response of the government has been -- no response for 14 months.

"In the meantime the eight Naval Personnel (Retd) have ostensibly been brutally tortured, self incriminating confessions extracted and sentenced to death in a Kangaroo Trail in a couple of perfunctory hearings. The Government has not even called in the Qatari Ambassador to protest the matter strongly. There is no visible protest by the Indian Government," he said.

"Despite the purported acceptance of their appeal, crucial details such as charges, court rationale, and the judgment of the copy of the Court of First Instance remains undisclosed. I therefore urge the government to inform the House of the situation about our Navy personnel in Qatar and the steps taken to bring them back to India. I hereby request permission to raise this matter," Tewari added.

The Winter Session commenced on Monday and will conclude on December 22.

On Monday, Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury also raised the issue and demanded that the government "exhaust every resource" to bring back the eight former naval personnel who were handed death sentences by a court in Qatar.

Raising the issue during the Zero Hour in the Lok Sabha, Chowdhury said the government should exhaust every resource to get rid of the charges against the Indian nationals convicted by the Qatari court

The Indian nationals were handed the death sentence by Qatar's Court of First Instance on October 26.

India had described the ruling as "deeply" shocking and vowed to explore all legal options in the case.

An appeal has already been filed against the death sentence and a higher court in Qatar has admitted the plea. The appeal has been filed by the legal team of the detained Indian nationals.