Speaker moves SC against order stalling proceedings
RAJASTHAN TURMOIL CP Joshi says HC order violates legal principles
NEW DELHI/JAIPUR: The Supreme Court will hear on Thursday a plea by the speaker of Rajasthan legislative assembly, CP Joshi, challenging the July 21 order of the Rajasthan high court asking him to defer till July 24, action on notices he issued to Sachin Pilot and 18 dissident Congress legislators, as the first step in their disqualification process.
Joshi said in his plea that the high court order restraining the speaker of the assembly from continuing with disqualification proceedings is in violation of settled legal principles and an intrusion into the exclusive domain of the speaker.
“The Supreme Court has a duty to ensure that the all the authorities under the Constitution exercise their jurisdiction within the boundaries and respective ‘Lakshman Rekha’ envisaged by the Constitution itself. Judiciary was never expected under the 10th schedto
ule to interfere in the manner it has done in the instant case resulting in this constitutional impasse,” the plea filed through advocate Sunil Fernandes said.
“We need to see if a mere show-cause notice (issued to the MLAs) on a petition (submitted by chief whip Mahesh Joshi) is
beyond the speaker’s authority,” Joshi said earlier in the day in a press conference in Jaipur, during which he said he would approach the apex court.
Meanwhile, Pilot and the 18 MLAs also filed a caveat before the Supreme Court on Wednesday, which means they will have be heard by the Supreme Court before any order can be passed.
“The law on this aspect is settled since a long time. In 1992, a five-judge constitution bench of the Supreme Court in Kihoto Hollohan’s case upheld the validity of the 10th Schedule (which deals with disqualification of law makers for defection) of the Constitution and said that courts cannot pass any stay order on proceedings before the speaker,” Fernandes said.
The order of Rajasthan high court stays the disqualification proceedings before the speaker, which is in conflict with the Kihoto judgment and, hence, we have approached the Supreme Court to stay the high court order”, he added.
That case stemmed from disqualification of some MLAs of the Nagaland Legislative Assembly and crystallised many principles regarding the powers of the speaker.
NEW DELHI/JAIPUR: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday conducted raids across the country including premises of Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot’s brother Agrasain Gehlot and his company for alleged money laundering in the export of a fertiliser meant for Indian farmers illegally in connivance with others, people familiar with the developments said.
The agency has registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on the basis of an investigation carried out by the customs department and the Directorate of Revenue and Intelligence (DRI) in 2009 in the export of Muriate of Potash or MOP worth ~57 lakh in 12 consignments the same year. MOP is a restricted commodity for export under the foreign trade policy.
The customs department’s investigation report, reviewed by HT, states that Agrasain Gehlot’s company – M/s Anupam Krishi – allegedly played a key role in the irregularities. The MOP was exported to companies in Malaysia and Singapore, an official said on condition of anonymity.
The DRI, too, launched an investigation in the matter in 2012-13 which, an official said, was completed recently. Following this, ED registered a money laundering case, the official added.
The searches come at a time when CM Gehlot is locked in a political battle with Sachin Pilot, who has been ousted from the posts of the deputy chief minister and the state Congress president.
The customs probe report states that Agrasain Gehlot “knowingly opted to become a part of the syndicate in the entire chain of conspiracy by facilitating the said consortium (of private companies) by supplying subsidized MOP, which was meant for sale to farmers only and forged documents for which he admittedly gained certain amount as his commission”.
ED raided a total of 13 places in Rajasthan, Delhi, West Bengal and Rajasthan in connection with the case. ED and the income tax department are also investigating Ashok Gehlot’s son Vaibhav Gehlot in connection with his links with a hotelier. IT teams, on July 13, searched several premises in Rajasthan and Mumbai belonging to three business groups including the hotelier’s on charges of tax evasion and recovered around ~12 crore in cash. Premises linked to two state Congress leaders were also searched. CM Gehlot has said that there are attempts to destabilise the government in Rajasthan.
Reacting to the ED raids on Wednesday, the Congress said the Bharatiya Janata Party leadership in Delhi created a “raid raj” and was using federal agencies to arm-twist lawmakers to bring down the Ashok Gehlot government
Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala, who has been camping in Jaipur to help the Gehlot government survive a rebellion led by Pilot, said the latest round of ED raids were ordered by the BJP leadership after three previous attempts to arm-twist Congress leaders and lawmakers did not succeed.