Raj HC issues notices to speaker, six BSP MLAS

THE HIGH COURT WAS HEARING THE PETITION FILED BY BSP; MLAS ASKED TO SUBMIT THEIR REPLIES BY AUGUST 11

nJAIPUR: The Rajasthan high court (HC) on Thursday issued notices to the assembly speaker, secretary of assembly secretariat and six legislators, who won the 2018 elections on Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) tickets but later merged with the Congress, on two petitions seeking the disqualification of the MLAS.

“The arguments took place on the maintainability of the petitions after which show cause notices were issued to the Vidhan Sabha speaker, the secretary of the Vidhan Sabha secretariat, and the six MLAS,” said Dinesh Kumar Garg, lawyer for the BSP, which filed a petition on Wednesday.

BSP national general secretary Satish Mishra and BJP lawmaker Madan Dilawar filed a separate petition in the HC against the merger on Tuesday, saying the move by the MLAS was unconstitutional as neither the state BSP nor the party at the national level had merged with the Congress — a contention the Congress has rejected.

Garg said the next hearing in the case would take place on August 11 by when the six BSP MLAS — Sandeep Yadav (Tijara), Wajib Ali (Nagar), Deepchand Kheria (Kisangarh Bas), Lakhanmeena (Karauli) and Rajendra Gudha (Udaipurwati) — assembly speaker CP Joshi and secretary of assembly secretariat have been asked to submit their replies.

While BSP national general secretary Satish Mishra Garg appeared for the BSP, Harish Salve attended the hearing for the BJP legislator. Both appeared through video conferencing.

The Congress argues that two thirds of the members of a legislature party are eligible to join another political party or form a separate party. It says that since all six BSP MLAS in the assembly changed camps, the move is not illegal.