He made the call in responding to Halimah Sadique, who said she would not divulge any details on the matter on grounds it was being investigated.

Waytha, however, said her excuse did not hold water.

He said ministers were duty-bound to be accountable to Parliament and Halimah had “arrogantly” refused to answer questions of the alleged abuse under her watch, including whether political parties and their leaders were involved in the alleged misuse of Malaysian Indian Transformation Unit (Mitra) grants.

“It would be acceptable for her to refuse to answer if she admits that she was under investigation and is not allowed to answer,” he said in a statement.

Waytha also said that Halimah’s conduct in the Dewan Rakyat was “a disgrace to parliamentary democracy”.

A heated argument erupted in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday after Halimah said she would not disclose details about the matter.

She also denied she was “hiding behind MACC” for refusing to address the issue.

Halimah denied she was being defensive and that she did not receive any instructions from MACC to not address the issue.

Last month, MACC nabbed 16 company directors on suspicion of being involved in misappropriating Mitra funds.