Himachal’s 6 rebel Congress MLAs likely to withdraw disqualification plea in SC

Six former Congress MLAs are contemplating the withdrawal of their plea from the Supreme Court in which they have challenged an order of the Himachal Pradesh Speaker disqualifying them from the assembly.
A highly placed source close to the former MLAs said a move to withdraw the plea from the court is on the cards as they want to contest the June 1 assembly byelections from the seats that have fallen vacant after their disqualification.
The top court has listed their plea for hearing on May 6.
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On March 18, the court refused to stay Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania’s order disqualifying the lawmakers, who had cross-voted in the recent Rajya Sabha election in the hill state.
A bench headed by Justice Sanjiv Khanna had issued a notice to the Soffice and sought a response within four weeks.
The apex court had said pending adjudication of their plea, the disqualified MLAs will not be allowed to vote or participate in the proceedings of the assembly.
The filing of nominations for the six vacant assembly seats starts on May 7.
The six Congress rebels — Sudhir Sharma, Ravi Thakur, Rajinder Rana, Inder Dutt Lakhanpal, Chetanya Sharma and Devinder Kumar Bhutto — were disqualified on February 29 for defying a party whip to be present in the House and vote in favour of the Himachal Pradesh government during a cut motion and budget.
Following the disqualification of the rebels, the effective strength of the House has gone down to 62 from 68, while the number of Congress MLAs has decreased to 34 from 40.
According to a notification issued by the Election Commission (EC) on March 16, byelections are scheduled to be held in the Dharamshala, Sujanpur, Lahaul and Spiti, Barsar, Gagret and Kutlehar assembly constituencies that fell vacant after the disqualification of the six MLAs.
The petitioners have alleged violations of the principles of natural justice, claiming that they did not get an adequate opportunity to respond to the disqualification petition.
Announcing the disqualification of the six MLAs at a press conference on February 29, the Speaker said they were disqualified under the anti-defection law as they defied the party whip. He ruled that they ceased to be members of the House with immediate effect.
The Himachal Pradesh parliamentary affairs minister Harshwardhan Pradhan had filed the petition seeking their disqualification before the Speaker.
Under the anti-defection law, any elected member who gives up the membership of a political party voluntarily or votes or abstains from voting in the House, contrary to any direction issued by his party, is liable for disqualification.
The six MLAs had signed the attendance register but abstained from the House during the voting on the budget, the Speaker said. They were issued notices for defying the whip through WhatsApp and e-mail and asked to appear for the hearing.
The Himachal Pradesh assembly passed the finance Bill by a voice vote after the Speaker suspended 15 BJP MLAs. The Speaker then adjourned the session.
In his 30-page order, Pathania said the plea of the rebel MLAs seeking time to reply to the notice was not entertained as the “evidence was absolutely clear”.
The Speaker said delivering a quick judgment was necessary in such cases to maintain the dignity of democracy and check the “Aaya Ram, gaya Ram phenomenon”.
The judgment had no link with cross-voting by these MLAs in the Rajya Sabha elections, the Speaker added.