The speaker of an Indian state assembly ordered an enquiry on Wednesday into allegations that two lawmakers had viewed pornography during a sitting of the chamber.
It is the second such scandal involving state lawmakers in recent weeks after three ministers in the Karnataka assembly were filmed viewing pornographic clips when the house was debating legislation.
Janak Purohit, a journalist for the Gujarat Samachar newspaper, said he spotted two members of the right-wing Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) watching porn in the Gujarat state assembly.
The lawmakers, Shankar Chaudhary and Jetha Bharwad, were watching an “obscene” video clip on a tablet computer during a session, Purohit told a local television station.
He complained to the speaker who ordered an enquiry and asked for the computer to be sent for forensic investigation.
“Taking into consideration the seriousness of the issue… an enquiry committee… will probe the matter,” speaker Ganpat Vasava told the assembly.
Chaudhary, one of the accused lawmakers, denied the charges at a press conference in state capital Gandhinagar, 27 kilometres (17 miles) from Ahmedabad.
“The report that I was watching porn in the assembly is incorrect, baseless and devoid of any truth. This is an attempt to tarnish my political image,” he told reporters.
