Rajasthan Political Crisis: Two-judge Bench To Hear Sachin Pilot's Plea Against Disqualification Shortly

A division bench of the Rajasthan High Court will hear Thursday evening a petition filed by Sachin Pilot and 18 other dissident leaders, challenging notices from the Speaker over a Congress move to disqualify them from the state assembly.

A two-judge bench is expected to hear the amended petition at 7.30 pm.

The petition first came up Justice Satish Chandra Sharma at 3 pm. But advocate Harish Salve sought time to file a fresh petition.

Advocates Harish Salve and Mukul Rohatgi are representing the dissidents in the court. 

Counsel Harish Salve said dissident MLAs wanted to challenge constitutional validity of disqualification notices.

"Petitioner will challenge anti-defection law enshrined in Tenth Schedule of Constitution," Salve said.

Also Read: Not Joining BJP, Worked Hard To Bring Congress Back In Rajasthan, Says Pilot

The 19 MLAs were sent notices Tuesday by the Speaker after the Congress complained that the MLAs had defied a party whip to attend two Congress Legislature Party meetings.

They have been asked to explain by Friday why they had skipped the Congress Legislature Party meet on Monday and Tuesday. 

The notices were sent after the chief whip of the Congress in Rajasthan Assembly, Mahesh Joshi, wrote to the Speaker, seeking proceedings against the rebel MLAs in accordance with the 10th Schedule of the Constitution.

The Congress also cited past Supreme Court rulings to seek their disqualification.

The apex court, in a plethora of verdicts, has given varying judicial opinions on Speakers' powers ranging from refusing to intervene in the matter to assuming the role of the Speaker itself and going to the extent of disqualifying lawmakers under the 10th Schedule of the Constitution.

The 2011 verdict of the Supreme Court in the Karnataka case may strengthen the case of the 19 MLAs, including Pilot, according to some legal experts.

Notices have been sent to all rebels through E-mail and WhatsApp. Physical copies have also been delivered to the official Jaipur addresses and constituency addresses of the rebel MLAs.

Sachin Pilot was on Tuesday sacked as deputy chief minister and the state Congress president after he did not show up at the Congress Legislature Party meetings. Two other ministers in the Pilot camp were also dropped from the Cabinet.

The Congress chief whip alleged that over the past several days attempts are being made to topple the state government through “corruption, bribery and other illegal means”.

He also referred to a probe by the Special Operations Group (SOG) of the Rajasthan Police to investigate the “conspiracy”.

ALSO READ: Sachin Pilot Says Won't Join BJP But Was He Ready To Defect?

The Congress has accused the opposition BJP of trying to lure its MLAs.

AICC general secretary Avinash Pande on Wednesday said it was up to the Speaker to decide what action to take if the replies to the notices were not satisfactory.

The Congress appointed Govind Singh Dotasara as the president of the party's Rajasthan unit.

With the appointment of the new president, a new state executive and departments will be formed, Pande said.

(With PTI Inouts)