The Supreme Court on Monday, March 18, refused to stay Himachal Pradesh Assembly Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania’s order disqualifying six Congress rebel MLAs. These MLAs cross-voted in the recent Rajya Sabha elections held in Himachal Pradesh.
A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta issued a notice to the office of Pathania, seeking his response to the plea in four weeks. They added that the rebel HP Congress MLAs will not be allowed to vote or participate in the proceedings of the Assembly until the adjudication of their plea is settled..
The bench said, “On the question of by-election on six vacant seats, we will have to examine whether the elections which have been notified by the ECI are to be stayed during the pendency of plea."
The bench gave the rebel MLAs—Sudhir Sharma, Ravi Thakur, Rajinder Rana, Inder Dutt Lakhanpal, Chetanya Sharma and Devinder Kumar Bhutto—a week to file their rejoinder, posting the matter for listing on May 6. The filing of nominations for six vacant assembly seats begins on May 7.
After the disqualification of the rebel MLAs on February 29, the Assembly’s strength was reduced to 62 from 68, with the number of Congress MLAs dropping to 34 from 40.
These MLAs defied the Congress whip in the House and did not vote in favour of the Himachal Pradesh government during the cut motion and budget.
First Published: Mar 18, 2024 3:37 PM IST
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