In his statement before the house, Advani said that there was no truth in the allegation that the demonstrators were beaten up inside the Parliament Street police station, as alleged by some Congress MPs in the house yesterday.

The Home Minister further stated that the police was constrained to use a water cannon and resort to a mild lathi-charge on the protestors when the latter began pelting stones. Nine demonstrators and 13 policemen were injured in the ensuing fracas.

But Opposition members led by Congress MP Ghulam Nabi Azad found the Home Minister's statement inadequate and demanded a judicial inquiry into the incident. They said that the number of demonstrators injured in the lathi-charge was much higher than what was stated by the minister.

While rejecting the Opposition's demand for a judicial inquiry, Advani said that the Youth Congress activists had been earlier refused permission by the police to hold the demonstration at Jantar Mantar. He, however, admitted that the functioning of the police all over the country needed to be changed.

Deputy chairperson of the house Najma Heptullah closed the matter by seeking an assurance from the Home Minister that such incidents would not be repeated again.