Suspended Gujarat Congress MLAs withdraw HC plea after Assembly resolves issue

AHMEDABAD:  Two Congress MLAs, suspended from the state Assembly on March 14, today withdrew their pleas in the Gujarat High Court challenging the action against them after the period of their suspension was reduced to the duration of the current session by the House following a compromise between the ruling BJP and the Congress.

MLAs Amrish Der and Baldevji Thakor, suspended by Speaker Rajendra Trivedi for three years and one year respectively, had filed petitions in the High Court against the order.

The Assembly today unanimously passed a proposal to withdraw their suspension along with that of another Congress MLA Pratap Dudhat, also suspended for three years, during the Budget Session here today.

As per the agreement reached between the two sides, the three MLAs will remain suspended for only this session, which ends tomorrow.

"Now that the matter has been resolved and the suspension is only for the current session, there is no point to run the matter in court.

And the court will not like to waste time over an academic issue," said their lawyer B M Mangukiya.

The two Congress MLAs were suspended after they allegedly hit a BJP legislator Jagdish Panchal with the rod of a microphone inside the House amid acrimonious scenes on March 14.

In their petitions, the two MLAs had said that the persons who had "provoked" them by using abusive language were spared, adding that the suspension was "malicious" and aimed at preventing the Opposition party from moving a no-confidence motion against the Speaker.

The Congress and the BJP reached a consensus over the issue of no-confidence motion against the Speaker as well.

Congress leader Shailesh Parmar had filed the no-trust motion application on February 28 with the Assembly secretariat, stating that Trivedi was "acting in a biased manner in favour of the ruling BJP".

Parmar, also Deputy Leader of Opposition, withdrew the motion today after seeking permission of the House.

Reciprocating the gesture, Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel urged the Assembly to allow curtailing of the suspension period of the three Congress MLAs.

Patel then moved a motion proposing that the suspension period of the three legislators be till the end of this budget session only, i.e. March 28.

The motion was passed unanimously.

Panchal, who had allegedly hurled verbal abuses at the Congress MLAs during the March 14 incident, tendered an apology in the House for his behaviour.