Saxena accepts apology by suspended BJP MLAs

New Delhi, February 21

Suspended from the Delhi Assembly for repeatedly interrupting Lieutenant-Governor (L-G) VK Saxena’s address at the start of the Budget session, seven BJP MLAs were on Wednesday asked by the Delhi High Court to meet Speaker Ram Niwas Goel after being told that the L-G has accepted their apology.

“As legislators, I don’t think we should have any difficulty in meeting the Speaker. However, what we are concerned and aggrieved about is our continued suspension,” senior advocate Jayant Mehta told Justice Subramonium Prasad on behalf of the BJP MLAs. Mehta said the MLAs would meet the Speaker during the day. Justice Prasad posted the matter for further hearing on Thursday.

Mehta said they have submitted a letter of apology to Saxena, who has accepted it, and a letter has also been sent to the Speaker. “Though we don’t think we did anything wrong, it was meant as an apology,” Mehta added.

The seven BJP MLAs — Mohan Singh Bisht, Ajay Mahawar, OP Sharma, Abhay Verma, Anil Bajpai, Jitender Mahajan and Vijender Gupta — have challenged their indefinite suspension from the Assembly.

“Although the court was told that it (their suspension) wasn’t political, we felt otherwise. We wrote a letter to the L-G. The L-G accepted it. However, there are two developments. Political comments are being made… political messages are floating…” Mehta submitted.

Since the MLAs have been barred, they can’t go inside the Assembly premises, he submitted.

On behalf of the legislative Assembly, senior advocate Sudhir Nandrajog said the suspended MLAs can go and meet the Speaker in his office, but they can’t enter the legislative chamber.

As the lawyer suggested that the MLAs should go and meet the speaker with a letter of apology, Justice Prasad said, “I am not interested in the nature of the meeting. I am not interested in what transpired in the meeting. I am only saying go and meet the Speaker…the court is not a political platform.”

Maintaining that it dealt with law, the court said if an issue could be resolved outside the court, an attempt should be made.

Amid the stand-off over the suspension of seven BJP MLAs, the Delhi High Court had on Tuesday asked them if they were ready to apologise to the L-G for repeatedly interrupting his address to the legislative Assembly that led to their suspension.

Justice Prasad had asked Mehta, representing the suspended legislators, to take instructions on its suggestion after the lawyer representing the Assembly said a similar course of action was adopted by the Supreme Court to end the suspension of AAP Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha.

The BJP MLAs had interrupted the L-G several times during his address on February 15 as he highlighted the achievements of the AAP government, while they attacked it for its alleged failure on various fronts.

(With PTI Inputs)