Jaitley accused the Congress of raising "frivolous" issues, without prior notice, to stall the Zero Hour proceedings.
Alleging that Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes were being printed in different sizes, the Opposition halted the Rajya Sabha (RS) proceedings on Tuesday. Attacking the government, the leaders stated that this was the biggest scam in the country. Some members even flashed new notes of different sizes, which led to a ruckus in the House. The BJP-led government, however, called the Opposition's allegations frivolous and meant to create confusion in the country.
The Congress members were joined by members of other parties, such as Trinamool Congress (TMC) and Janta Dal (United), who then stormed the Well of the House.
Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal, who had raised the issue when the House met for the day at 11 am, said the variation in note size "jeopardises the credibility of the currency".
"We have discovered today the reason why the government did demonetization," he said. Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad joined in, saying, "This is the biggest scam of this century," adding that the government had no right to continue.
Significantly, JD(U)'s Sharad Yadav sided with the Opposition on the issue, despite his party now being a constituent of the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
Amid the din, Samajwadi Party leader Naresh Agarwal said his party was staging a walkout. TMC's Derek O'Brien even walked up to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to pinpoint the difference in sizes.
Jaitley accused the Congress of raising "frivolous" issues, without prior notice, to stall the Zero Hour proceedings.
"This is a misuse of the Zero Hour," he said, adding that earlier, the Congress had raised the issue of provision for the None-Of-The-Above (NOTA) option for Rajya Sabha poll, only to discover later that the provision was provided for during their rule.
He, however, did not comment on the Opposition's charges regarding the different-sized notes.
As sloganeering by the Congress as well as the ruling party continued, Deputy Chairman PJ Kurien urged the members to go back to their seats.
Addressing Congress members, he said: "If you consider the issue very serious, then give a notice for discussion."
Kurien also questioned the ruling party members, saying: "What is there for you to be agitated?"
He then adjourned the House till Wednesday.
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