Don’t act on disqualification notices, Rajasthan HC ‘requests’ Speaker

JAIPUR: The 18 dissident Congress legislators led by former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot got another breather from Rajasthan High Court that on Tuesday ‘requested’ assembly speaker CP Joshi not to act on the disqualification notices issued by him till it passes an order on July 24.
A division bench of Chief Justice Indrajit Mahanty and Justice Prakash Gupta passed an interim order on the petition. “The court has said the matter be put up for necessary orders on July 24 and till then the speaker is requested to extend the time given to the petitioners for filing replies,” advocate Prateek Kasliwal, who represented Joshi in the court, told TOI. The high court completed hearing on the Pilot group’s petition challenging the speaker’s disqualification notices issued under the Constitution’s Schedule X for failing to attend party legislature meetings despite a whip.
The legislators were originally required to respond by 1pm on July 17 but last week the court sought an assurance from the speaker to not act on the notices till 5:30pm on Tuesday. Congress chief whip Mahesh Joshi had petitioned the speaker that 19 MLAs appeared to have voluntarily given up their membership by not attending two consecutive legislature party meetings on July 13 and 14 despite the party whip and thus attracted disqualification under the Constitution’s Schedule X.
Senior counsels Harish Salve and Mukul Rohatgi appearing via video conferencing for the Pilot group argued before the division bench the legislators have neither defected nor given up their assembly memberships and as such the speaker was incorrect in invoking clause 2(1)(a) of Schedule X to issue them disqualification notices. It was argued that the speaker acted in haste issuing notices on the same day when the chief whip petitioned him and gave the MLAs just two days’ time instead of seven days to respond. The whip too was questioned saying it could be issued only when the assembly was in session and its violation only in the House could invite action under the anti-defection law.
Pilot’s counsels argued that under Article 226 the high court had powers to intervene even before the speaker acted on the notices. Senior counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who appeared for the speaker, argued that not only the petition was premature but the court also had no powers to intervene since the speaker had “exclusive, nontransferable and non-delegable authority” to adjudicate on disqualification of members.
Singhvi said what conduct invites disqualification under Schedule X was the sole domain of the speaker. Senior advocate Devadatt Kamat, who represented chief whip Joshi, said the MLAs’ refusal to attend CLP meetings can be construed as a conduct of voluntarily giving up the membership. Chief justice Mahanty noted a contradiction in party’s stand, which considered refusal to attend CLP meetings as voluntarily giving up of memberships by the 19 MLAs but subsequently suspended two of them.