REPRIEVE TO PILOT TILL TUE, HC HEARING ON MON

Rebel Congress leader Sachin Pilot and his group of 18 MLAs on Friday got a breather until Tuesday evening from the Rajasthan High Court which is hearing a petition challenging their proposed expulsion from the Assembly under the anti-defection law.

The court reasoned that the 2-day notice served on them by Speaker C P Joshi was too short a period and wanted the MLAs be given at least seven days to respond, to save their membership of the House. They had rushed to the High Court on Thursday seeking to either quash the Speaker's notices or obtain a stay until the court disposes of the matter.

While adjourning the case to Monday, the High Court hoped that no adversarial action will be taken by the Speaker at least until Tuesday.The Speaker, who had extended the timeline for response from 2 PM to 5 PM, quickly extended it further to 5.30 PM on Tuesday that would meet the court’s requirement of seven days.

The hearing will resume on Monday at 10 AM, 30 minutes ahead of the regular sittings of the court.Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for the Speaker, argued that the court cannot interfere with the Speaker's actions as he is the absolute authority in the House.

Senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for the Sachin Pilot faction, asserted that the petitioner had raised his voice in the Congress Party's central governing body against the "dictatorship" of Chief Minister Gehlot. He said this was in exercise of his right to freedom of speech and did not amount to "defection." He argued that neither Pilot, nor any of his associate MLAs, have left the party or joined any other formation to be accused of "anti-party activities," as alleged in the Speaker's notice.He asserted that the party whip applies only when the Assembly is in session and any act outside the House is not violative of the anti-defection law.

Salve said the disqualification notices are an attempt to stifle internal discussions within a party. "Where is the question of the MLAs defying the whip to attend the CLP meeting? A whip is not applicable to meetings at homes and hotels; it only applies to proceedings within House," he affirmed.