In a partial relief to the Ashok Gehlot government, a Division Bench of the Rajasthan High Court on Thursday sent a case relating to merger of six Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLAs with the ruling Congress back to a Single Judge Bench without granting a stay. The court disposed of two petitions filed by a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA and the BSP in the matter.
BJP MLA Madan Dilawar and BSP general secretary Satish Mishra had approached the Division Bench in an appeal against an order passed by Justice Mahendra Goyal on July 30, when he refused to grant an interim relief through a stay on the participation of the six MLAs in the proceedings of the State Assembly as the Congress legislators.
The six MLAs — Sandeep Yadav, Wajib Ali, Deepchand Kheria, Lakhan Meena, Jogendra Awana and Rajendra Gudha — had contested the 2018 Assembly election on the BSP’s symbol and later defected to Congress in September last year. Their support will be crucial for the Gehlot government in the event of a trust vote on the floor of the Assembly during the session beginning on August 14.
High Court sends notices to Speaker, 6 BSP MLAs who joined Congress
The Division Bench, comprising Chief Justice Indrajit Mahanty and Justice Prakash Gupta, disposed of the two petitions with the direction to serve notices, issued by the Single Judge Bench, on the six MLAs, who are staying along with other Congress legislators at a resort near Jaisalmer, through the District Judge.
The BSP has maintained that the merger of MLAs was unconstitutional because the party did not merge with Congress at the national or State levels. Mr. Mishra contended that the legislators could not merge with another party on their own. After the Assembly Speaker C.P. Joshi rejected his complaint in the matter, Mr. Dilawar challenged the decision in the High Court through a writ petition.
The petitions of Mr. Dilawar and the BSP will be heard by the Bench of Justice Goyal on August 11. The Division Bench asked the Jaisalmer District Judge to ensure delivery of notices to the six MLAs by August 8 and, if need be, take the help of Superintendent of Police. The notices will also be published in the local newspapers.
The Speaker’s counsel contended before the Division Bench that the appeals against the Single Judge Bench, which had only issued notices, were not maintainable. He also argued that the Speaker’s office could not be used as a post office to get the notices served on any MLA.
Another Single Judge Bench of Justice Satish Chandra Sharma has stayed a lower court’s order asking the Special Operations Group (SOG) of Rajasthan Police to investigate into the role of Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and his associates in the ₹900 crore Sanjeevani Cooperative Credit Society scam.
The court admitted a petition filed by a co-accused in the case and said that the accused as well as victims of the alleged fraud should be given an opportunity of hearing.