Supreme Court hearing on disqualified Himachal MLAs’ plea today

New Delhi, March 17

The Supreme Court will on Monday take up a petition filed by six disqualified Himachal Pradesh rebel Congress MLAs challenging state Legislative Assembly Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania’s February 29 decision to disqualify them under the anti-defection law.

Cong Rajya Sabha nominee was defeated

• The six rebel Congress MLAs had voted in favour of BJP candidate Harsh Mahajan in the Rajya Sabha poll, which ended in a 34-34 tie, with the three Independents also voting for the saffron party. Mahajan finally defeated Congress nominee Abhishek Manu Singhvi after the result was decided by a draw of lots
• Defying a party whip, the petitioner rebel Congress MLAs had abstained from voting on the Budget. It was on this ground that the Congress had sought their disqualification — the first such decision under the anti-defection law in the state
• On behalf of the rebel Congress MLAs, senior counsel Satya Pal Jain had submitted that they were given only a show-cause notice and were not supplied a copy of the petition or the annexure and that the seven-day mandatory time allowed for responding to the notice was not given to them

Why petitioners didn’t approach HC

Alright, but tell me one thing… Why can’t you go to the high court? What is the fundamental right (violated)? Justice Sanjiv Khanna

The six rebel Congress MLAs — Sudhir Sharma, Ravi Thakur, Rajinder Rana, Inder Dutt Lakhanpal, Chetanya Sharma and Devinder Kumar Bhutto — were disqualified for defying a Congress whip to be present in the House and vote in favour of the Himachal Pradesh government during the cut motion and budget.

They had cross-voted in the recent Rajya Sabha polls in Himachal Pradesh, resulting in the defeat of Congress candidate Abhishek Manu Singhvi.

The matter is listed before a Bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Dipankar Datta on March 18.

Asking what fundamental rights of the petitioners were violated, the Bench had on March 12 wondered why the petitioners didn’t approach the Himachal Pradesh High Court.

The Bench deferred the hearing to March 18 after senior counsel Satya Pal Jain requested for an adjournment on the ground that senior advocate Harish Salve, who was to appear for the petitioners, was unable to join the proceedings. “Alright, but tell me one thing… Why can’t you go to the high court? What is the fundamental right (violated)?” Justice Khanna had asked.

As Jain said they had been elected, Justice Khanna had pointed out, “That’s not a fundamental right.”

Alleging that they were not given adequate opportunity to respond to the disqualification petition, the rebel Congress MLAs submitted that it amounted to violation of the principles of natural justice.

The six rebel Congress MLAs had voted in favour of BJP candidate Harsh Mahajan in the February 27 Rajya Sabha polls which ended in a 34-34 tie, with the three Independents also voting for the saffron party.

Defying a party whip, the petitioner rebel Congress MLAs had abstained from voting on the Budget. It was on this ground that the Congress had sought their disqualification — the first such decision under the anti-defection law in Himachal.

Later, the Himachal Pradesh Assembly had passed the Finance Bill (Budget) by voice vote after Speaker Pathania suspended 15 BJP MLAs. Following their disqualification, the effective strength of the House has been reduced from 68 to 62 and the ruling Congress now has 34 MLAs, instead of 40.

Acting on a disqualification petition filed by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Harshwardhan Chauhan, the Speaker had on February 29 ruled that the rebel Congress MLAs attracted disqualification under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution i.e. the anti-defection law and ceased to be members of the House with immediate effect for defying the party whip. They had signed the attendance register but abstained from the House during the voting on the Budget.

Noting that a quick decision on disqualification petition was necessary to maintain the dignity of democracy and to check the “Aaya Ram, Gaya Ram” phenomenon, the Speaker had clarified that his verdict had no link with the cross-voting by the rebel Congress MLAs in the Rajya Sabha poll.

On behalf of the rebel Congress MLAs, senior counsel Satya Pal Jain had submitted that they were given only a show-cause notice and were not supplied a copy of the petition or the annexure and that the seven-day mandatory time allowed for responding to the notice was not given to them. The Speaker had turned down Jain’s request for time to respond to the notice, saying the “evidence was absolutely clear”.