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NEW DELHI: Supreme Court on Monday refused to stay the disqualification order issued by the Himachal Pradesh assembly speaker against six Congress rebels. These rebels had engaged in cross-voting during the recent Rajya Sabha polls in the state.
A bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta issued a notice to the office of the HP assembly speaker, Kuldeep Singh Pathania, and sought its response to the plea within four weeks.
“On the question of by-election on six vacant seats, we will have to examine whether the elections which have been notified by the ECI are to be stayed during the pendency of plea,” the bench said.
The bench further ruled that until a decision is reached on their plea, the rebel Congress MLAs will not be permitted to vote or partake in Assembly proceedings.
“You are not allowed to vote but no fresh elections are called. There is no question of you participating,” the apex court observed.
Regarding the matter of the by-elections to fill the six vacant seats, the bench expressed the need to examine whether the elections notified by the Election Commission of India should be stayed during the plea’s pendency. The case has been scheduled for listing on May 6, with the rebel MLAs given a week to file their rejoinder.
The six rebels: Sudhir Sharma (Dharamshala), Ravi Thakur (Lahaul-Spiti), Rajinder Rana (Sujanpur), Inder Dutt Lakhanpal (Barsar), Chaitanya Sharma (Gagret) and Devinder Kumar (Kutlehar)
The cross-voting resulted in the 40-member Congress party losing the Rajya Sabha seat to the 25-member BJP, which was supported by only 3 independents. Following the defeat, parliamentary affairs minister Harshvardhan Chauhan filed a petition that ultimately led to the disqualification of the six members who had disobeyed the Congress whip during the budget session. Subsequently, the rebels challenged the Speaker’s decision in the apex court.
Following the disqualification of the rebels, the effective strength of the House was reduced from 68 to 62, with the number of Congress MLAs decreasing from 40 to 34.
Senior advocate Harish Salve appeared for the MLAs and Senior advocate Kapil Sibal and Dr Singhvi appeared for the Speaker.
(With inputs from agencies)
A bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta issued a notice to the office of the HP assembly speaker, Kuldeep Singh Pathania, and sought its response to the plea within four weeks.
“On the question of by-election on six vacant seats, we will have to examine whether the elections which have been notified by the ECI are to be stayed during the pendency of plea,” the bench said.
The bench further ruled that until a decision is reached on their plea, the rebel Congress MLAs will not be permitted to vote or partake in Assembly proceedings.
“You are not allowed to vote but no fresh elections are called. There is no question of you participating,” the apex court observed.
Regarding the matter of the by-elections to fill the six vacant seats, the bench expressed the need to examine whether the elections notified by the Election Commission of India should be stayed during the plea’s pendency. The case has been scheduled for listing on May 6, with the rebel MLAs given a week to file their rejoinder.
The six rebels: Sudhir Sharma (Dharamshala), Ravi Thakur (Lahaul-Spiti), Rajinder Rana (Sujanpur), Inder Dutt Lakhanpal (Barsar), Chaitanya Sharma (Gagret) and Devinder Kumar (Kutlehar)
The cross-voting resulted in the 40-member Congress party losing the Rajya Sabha seat to the 25-member BJP, which was supported by only 3 independents. Following the defeat, parliamentary affairs minister Harshvardhan Chauhan filed a petition that ultimately led to the disqualification of the six members who had disobeyed the Congress whip during the budget session. Subsequently, the rebels challenged the Speaker’s decision in the apex court.
Following the disqualification of the rebels, the effective strength of the House was reduced from 68 to 62, with the number of Congress MLAs decreasing from 40 to 34.
Senior advocate Harish Salve appeared for the MLAs and Senior advocate Kapil Sibal and Dr Singhvi appeared for the Speaker.
(With inputs from agencies)
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