Manipur HC bars 7 Congress MLAs who joined BJP from entering Assembly

    Imphal, June 8 (PTI) The High Court of Manipur on
Monday restrained seven Congress MLAs, who defected to the
BJP, from entering the Assembly till Speaker Yumnam Khemchand
Singh finally disposes of the pending anti-defection cases
against them.
    These seven lawmakers had helped formation of the
BJP-led government in the state after the Assembly election in
2017, in which the Congress emerged as the single largest
party.
    Following the high court order, they might not be able
to cast vote in the Rajya Sabha elections to be held on June
19.
    After hearing the disqualifications against the seven
MLAs filed by leaders of the Congress, the court ordered that
they are restrained from entering the House.
    The court said the disqualification petitions were
filed against them before the Speaker in November 2018 but he
did not decide on the matter within a reasonable time.
    Earlier in March, the Supreme Court, in a rare move,
invoked its plenary powers and ordered forthwith removal of Th
Shyamkumar who was the state's forest minister.
    Shyamkumar had also won the election on Congress
ticket but became a minister in the BJP-led government.
    The plea of his disqualification was also pending with
the Speaker since 2017. Khemchand later disqualified him from
the Assembly. PTI COR
NN NN

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)