Rajasthan High Court to hear Sachin Pilot camp's amended plea over MLAs disqualification from assembly at 1 pm today

Sachin Pilot and 18 other dissident leaders on Thursday (July 16) moved the Rajasthan High Court, challenging the notices from the Speaker CP Joshi over a Congress move to disqualify them from the state assembly, in a dramatic escalation of the party's crisis in the state.

Jaipur: Jaipur: Rajasthan High Court accepted the amended petition filed by Sachin Pilot camp challenging the disqualification of MLAs by Rajasthan Speaker CP Joshi from the assembly. A two-judge bench will hear the matter at 1 pm today, which is also the deadline that the Speaker's office gave MLAs to file their replies to the notices.

Pilot and 18 other dissident leaders on July 16 moved the Rajasthan HC challenging notices from Speaker CP Joshi over a Congress move to disqualify them from the state assembly, in a dramatic escalation of the party's crisis in the state. In his initial appearance, counsel Harish Salve argued that the MLAs wanted to challenge the constitutional validity of the notices and needed some time to file it afresh.

Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who is also a Congress leader, represents the Speaker's office. Harish Salve and Mukul Rohatgi, who have represented the BJP-led government at the Centre in the past, are the lawyers for the Pilot's camp.

Congress chief whip Mahesh Joshi, who had written to the Speaker seeking the MLAs' disqualification, also approached the court, asking to be heard before it passes any order.

The 19 MLAs were sent notices by the assembly secretariat on Tuesday and allowed up to Friday to give their replies. The notices said Speaker C P Joshi will take up the matter at 1 pm on Friday. The notices were served after the ruling party complained to the Speaker that the MLAs had defied a party whip to attend two Congress Legislature Party meetings, on July 13 and 14. The Pilot camp, however, argues that a party whip applies only when the assembly is in session.

In its complaint to the Speaker, Congress sought action against Pilot and other dissidents under paragraph 2 (1) (a) of the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution. The provision disqualifies MLAs if they voluntarily give up membership of the party they represent in the House.

Congress said in a letter to the Speaker that the Supreme Court has unequivocally held in the past that the provision comes into effect when the conduct of an MLA leads to this inference.

Among those sent notices are Vishvendra Singh and Ramesh Meena, who were sacked along with Pilot from the state cabinet after their rebellion against Ashok Gehlot. Pilot was also removed from the post of the state unit of the Congress.

Apart from the three sacked ministers, the other MLAs served notices are Prithviraj Meena, Ved Prakash Solanki, Suresh Modi, Deependra Singh, Bhanwar Lal Sharma, Gajraj Khatana, Indraj, Gajendra Singh Shaktawat, Hema Ram Chaudhary, Ram Niwas Gawriya, Amar Singh, Brijendra Singh Ola, Murari Lal, Mukesh Kumar Bhakar, Rakesh Parekh and Harish Meena.

The initial petition filed by the dissidents said Pilot has issued statements saying he had no intention of leaving Congress. It argued that that the show-cause notice is contrary to the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly (Disqualification) Rules, which allows seven days to file a reply.

It said no action has been taken by the Speaker on a similar complaint, alleging defection by Bahujan Samaj Party members, since it was filed 10 months back.

Pilot has reportedly been upset since Congress picked Ashok Gehlot for the Chief Minister's post after the 2018 assembly polls. His supporters said he deserved credit for the party's victory election after a campaign helmed by him as its state unit chief.

If the 19 Congress dissidents are disqualified, the current strength of the state assembly will reduce to 181, slashing the half-way mark to 91 and seemingly making it easier for Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot to retain majority support.

In the 200-member assembly, the Congress has 107 MLAs and the BJP 72.

In the past, the ruling party has claimed the support of 13 independents, two MLAs each from the CPM and the Bhartiya Tribal Party (BTP), and one from the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD).