PARLIAMENT Opposition lawmakers are fuming after the government passed the buck and then evaded a query about the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act (Sosma) being abused.

Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi refused to respond to queries by Gobind Singh Deo (DAP-Puchong) on the use of Sosma against Umno man Khairuddin Abu Hassan and his lawyer Matthias Chang ( photo ).

"I don't want to debate legal matters with Puchong because he is a great lawyer and I am not a lawyer.

"So I leave this question to be answered by the law minister," Zahid said in his budget winding up speech today.

However when it came to Law Minister Nancy Shukri's turn to wind up, she refused to take the question on Sosma.

When Gobind kicked up a fuss about this, Nancy sat down and said her 15 minutes were up.

"Fifteen minutes for a Minister in the Prime minister's Department, I wanted to ask about Sosma.

"There are two people under detention now. They should have the decency to answer that question given the fact that she is a lawyer," Gobind ( photo ) lamented at a press conference in the Parliament lobby later.

When met by reporters, Nancy said she had answered all the questions addressed to her and that Sosma was not one of them.

"No, (Sosma) was not directed to me. They are bringing in new issues. They are trying to connect to whatever happened and that they have a basis to ask and all," she said.

Sosma is a security law meant to deter terrorism and acts against the state.

Critics have condemned the use against Khairuddin and Chang, who are accused of attempting to sabotage the country's banking and financial services sector.

This is in relation to the police reports they lodged over 1MDB overseas.