The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed disqualified Rajya Sabha member and rebel Janata Dal (United) leader Sharad Yadav to retain his official bungalow for the time being after he agreed to forego the monetary benefits of office during the pendency of his challenge against disqualification in the Delhi High Court.
The direction given by a Vacation Bench of Justices A.K. Goel and Ashok Bhushan was based on a petition filed by JD(U) Rajya Sabha MP Ramchandra Prasad Singh against an order passed by the Delhi High Court on December 15 last year.
High court order
The high court, in that order, though refusing to grant an interim stay on Mr. Yadav's disqualification, had allowed him to draw his salary, allowances, perks and retain the bungalow till the pendency of his plea.
During the hearing, the Bench questioned the propriety of Mr. Yadav partaking the salary and perks of office, drawn from the public exchequer, when the very question of his disqualification under the stringent anti-defection law was still under consideration in the high court.
The court’s scepticism drew Mr. Yadav’s lawyers, senior advocate Guru Krishna Kumar and Devadatt Kamat, to concede that their client would abstain from accepting the perks and allowances of office till the high court takes a final call.
The court then asked a Division Bench of the high court to decide the matter by July 12.
Mr. Yadav has alleged in the high court that he was not afforded an opportunity to present his case against disqualification by the Rajya Sabha Chairman.
Mr. Singh has pressed his case against Mr. Yadav and another disqualified JD(U) leader, Ali Anwar, on the ground that they attended a rally of the Opposition parties in Patna in violation of the party's directives.
Mr. Yadav had aligned with the Opposition after JD(U) president and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar left the alliance with the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress in the State to join hands with the BJP in July 2017.
Mr. Yadav was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2016 till 2022. Mr. Anwar's term expired in April.
‘New low in politics’
Mr. Yadav’s faction accused the JD(U) of plunging to a “new low” in politics by targeting him in such a manner.
Arun Kumar Srivastava, an aide of Mr. Yadav and former JD(U) general secretary, said political rivalry has never played out in such a “personal and vindictive” way.
“It never happened in politics that you go after a rival’s bungalow and salary,” he said.
Mr. Srivastava cited the examples of Amar Singh, a Rajya Sabha member expelled from the Samajwadi Party, and Pappu Yadav, expelled RJD MP, to say that their parent parties never targeted them in the way the JD(U) has gone after Mr. Sharad Yadav.
“Sharad Yadav’s residence and salary are a matter between him and the Central government but still the JD(U) approached the Supreme Court against the benefits he is getting,” Mr. Srivastava said.
(With PTI inputs)