Independent MLAs in quandary over Himachal High Court orders

Pratibha Chauhan

Shimla, May 8

The fate of three Independent legislators, who had submitted their resignations to the Assembly Speaker, hangs in balance after the Himachal High Court disposed of their petition with dissenting judgments today. The ball is now back in the court of Vidhan Sabha Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania.

The High Court disposed of the plea of Hoshiyar Singh (Dehra), KL Thakur (Nalagarh) and Ashish Sharma (Hamirpur), who had submitted their resignation to the Speaker on March 22 and joined the BJP the next day.

In the wake of the dissenting judgments on the issue, the matter is likely to be referred to a Single Bench of a third judge, which could further delay the final decision on their resignations. The three MLAs had approached the High Court in hope that an early decision on their petition would enable the holding of byelections to their Assembly segments along with six other Assembly seats and the Lok Sabha elections to be held on June 1. As the notification for the Lok Sabha elections and the six Assembly byelections was issued yesterday, the byelections to the segments repesented by three Independent MLAs will now be held later even if the Speaker accepts their resignations in the near future.

There are two petitions pending before the Vidhan Sabha Speaker against the resignations of the three Independent MLAs. Revenue Minister Jagat Singh Negi in his petition had urged the Speaker that the three MLAs could be disqualified under the provisions of the anti-defection law on the grounds that they joined the BJP the very next day after submitting their resignations, which had not been accepted.

The three MLAs had even sat on a dharna in the Vidhan Sabha on March 30 to press for an early acceptance of their resignations. They had stated that since they had handed over their resignations in person to the Speaker and without any duress, there was no justification in delaying a decision on the issue. They had also met Governor Shiv Pratap Shukla, seeking his intervention for the immediate acceptance of their resignations.

2 petitions pending

• There are two petitions pending before the Speaker against the resignations of the three Independent MLAs
• Revenue Minister Jagat Singh Negi in his petition had urged the Speaker that the three MLAs could be disqualified under the provisions of the anti-defection law
• The Congress has 34 MLAs in the 68-member Assembly while the BJP has 25 MLAs, besides three Independents, whose resignations had not been accepted
• The effective strength of the House at present is 62, thus giving the Congress majority