No stay on HC order: SC verdict a respite for Sachin Pilot in Rajasthan row

A Rajasthan high court order on disqualification notice can be expected tomorrow

judiciary-court-apex-court-supreme-court-of-india-legal-shut Supreme Court of India

Hearing a Special Leave Petition (SLP) filed by Rajasthan Speaker C.P. Joshi, against an earlier high court order that directed the speaker to put on hold disqualification proceedings against Sachin Pilot and 18 other dissident Congress MLAs, a Supreme Court bench of Justices Arun Mishra, B.R. Gavai and Krishna Murari said the complaint will be further heard on Monday. In a blow to the Congress, the court refused to stay the Rajasthan high court order, paving the way for a possible verdict tomorrow. 

Representing Joshi in the Supreme Court, senior counsel Kapil Sibal quoted the 1992 Kihoto Hollohan judgment, saying the SC had upheld the sweeping discretion available to the speaker for deciding disqualification cases. Sibal said that the speaker's decision on disqualification, at this stage, cannot be subject to judicial review. “Judicial review is not permissible at a stage prior to the making of a decision by the speaker."

In reply to a question by the apex court on the grounds under which the disqualification was sought, Sibal told court that the dissident MLAs didn't attend a party meet (despite a whip to do so), indulged in anti-party activities and were incommunicado in a Haryana hotel. Justice Arun Mishra orally noted that voices of dissent cannot be suppressed, referring to the Congress intra-party feud. 

Seeking an interim stay on the Rajasthan high court order, the speaker's petition said it was the top court's duty to ensure that all constitutional authorities act within the lakshman rekha (boundary). The petition noted: "There can't be a protective order at this stage. When Rajasthan High Court extended time to reply on notices and said no directions will be passed, that was a protective order."

Pilot and 18 other dissident Congress MLAs got another reprieve on Tuesday with the Rajasthan High Court putting off until Friday its order on their petitions against disqualification; the speaker also agreed to defer any action till then. The division bench completed the hearing of arguments and said it will pronounce its order on Friday, requesting the speaker too to extend his deadline for accepting the MLAs' replies to the notices.

The notices had followed a Congress complaint that the 19 MLAs should be disqualified from the assembly for defying a party whip. The dissident MLAs, including Pilot, had challenged the disqualification notices, moving court last Friday. The division bench of Chief Justice Indrajit Mahanty and Prakash Gupta also heard the case on Monday and Tuesday. The Congress had moved for action against Pilot and the other dissidents under paragraph 2(1)(a) of the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution