Speaker CP Joshi withdraws appeal in SC against Rajasthan HC order on rebel MLAs

New Delhi: In a twist to the political drama in Rajasthan, Speaker C.P. Joshi Monday withdrew his appeal against the Rajasthan High Court order directing him to maintain status quo with regard to disqualification petitions against senior Congress leader Sachin Pilot and his 18 fellow rebel MLAs.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal informed the Supreme Court bench led by Justice Arun Mishra about his client’s decision to withdraw the case in view of the Rajasthan High Court’s Friday order. Sibal said the issues that the Supreme Court is looking at have merged with issues that the high court is considering through its 24 July order.

“So kindly permit us to withdraw this plea,” Sibal told the bench, which then granted his request. “It pains us that high courts are not following Supreme Court judgments,” Sibal added before the brief hearing conducted through a video conference concluded.

“The high court has passed a fresh 32-page order on 24 July wherein several questions, including interpretation of Tenth Schedule were raised. We have to weigh our legal  options on what to do next,” Sibal submitted to the bench.

The legal battle

The Supreme Court had on 23 July refused to pass any order on Joshi’s appeal.

The Speaker had argued that the high court’s 22 July order, restraining him from deciding disqualification petitions, was against a 1992 Supreme Court constitution bench verdict that held courts cannot interdict the Speaker from proceeding ahead at the quia timet stage.

During that hearing, the SC bench had questioned Joshi’s stand on intra-party democracy and wondered if notices issued to rebel Congress MLAs by the assembly speaker would amount to shutting out dissenting voices.

The bench had posed this query to Sibal who on behalf of Joshi attacked the high court order. “The question is can voices of dissent be shut down like this. Can a person elected by the people not express his dissent? Voice if dissent cannot be suppressed..then democracy will shut,” Justice Mishra had said, saying the court would like to hear the matter at length.

It had then fixed the hearing of the case to Monday.

The Rajasthan HC orders

On 24 July (Friday), the high court held Pilot and the others’ plea maintainable, rejecting the Speaker’s stand that it was a premature petition.

The high court also allowed an application filed by one of the rebel MLAs to make the Narendra Modi government a party to the case.

According to the high court, the government would be required to say something on the constitutional challenge to a tenth schedule provision, which the rebel Congress MLAs want to be declared as ultra vires.

With its order, the high court enlarged the scope of the petition and framed 13 questions for both sides to address.

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