New Delhi: Defence Minister George Fernandes on December 18 faced Opposition ire in the Rajya Sabha after a Congress member refused to put his question to the minister pending completion of probe into the tehelka expose on Defence deals.

As chairman Bhairon Singh Shekhawat asked Raju Parmar (Congress) to put his question to the minister, the member refused to ask his question.

"My conscience does not permit me to put the question to the minister," Parmar said, adding the probe into the tehelka expose was still not over.

At this stage, Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani sought the Chair's intervention saying when he (Shekhawat) was conducting the Question Hour so successfully, he must do something in this regard so that questions could be asked to Fernandes.

Advani said it was not decent to give notice for the question and then not ask it. "Otherwise, a member need not give such a notice at all," he said.

When some Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members including Kalraj Mishra and S S Ahluwalia stood up in support of Advani, members from the Opposition benches tried to shout them down leading to noisy scenes.

The chairman then rose in his seat and said he would soon try to resolve the matter.

The Opposition members, who are critical of Fernandes' re-induction into the Cabinet before the tehelka probe was over, are boycotting him in both the Houses of Parliament by refusing to ask questions.

PTI