HC dismisses BSP MLAs petition for relief against disqualification

The Lucknow Bench of Allahabad High Court dismissed the petition of ruling Bahujan Samaj Party MLA Fareed Mahfooz Qidwai,who had sought relief against proceedings leading to his disqualification as member of the state Assembly.

Listen to this article

00:00

1x 1.5x 1.8x

The Lucknow Bench of Allahabad High Court on Thursday dismissed the petition of ruling Bahujan Samaj Party MLA Fareed Mahfooz Qidwai,who had sought relief against proceedings leading to his disqualification as member of the state Assembly.

Qidwai is BSP MLA from Barabankis Masauli seat,which has been declared a reserved seat following delimitation. Qidwai joined Samajwadi Party on May 9 at a press conference in Lucknow. Following his declaration to join Samajwadi Party,BSP state president Swami Prasad Maurya had moved a petition before Speaker of the Assembly Sukhdeo Rajbhar for Qidwais disqualification from the Assembly membership. Qidwai,who claimed that he had already resigned from his Assembly membership and hence the question of disqualification does not arise,had moved the High Court,urging the court to direct Rajbhar to decide the issue of his resignation first and stop the proceedings leading to his disqualification from the Assembly membership.

However,the bench of justices Uma Nath Singh and Anil Kumar,in their order for dismissal of Qidwais petition,said Since the matter is pending before the Speaker,he would be the best judge to decide as to how the matter is to be decided in keeping with the best tradition of his office namely the absolute and unvarying impartiality.

Story continues below this ad

Senior advocate Umesh Chandra,appearing for Qidwai,argued before the court that the MLA had declared that he would be resigning from the Assembly membership on May 9 and had sent his resignation letter to the Speaker on the same day. However,his letter could not be delivered and was returned to him,which he again sent on May 12,again to be returned because the office of the Speaker was in No Entry Zone. Further,Chandra told the court that Qidwai had also sent his resignation through fax on May 12.

However,Maurya had already moved the petition before the Speaker for his disqualification. The court had issued a notice to Rajbhar as well as Maurya on September 7. Additional Advocate General JN Mathur,who appeared for Rajbhar and advocate PN Gupta,who appeared for Maurya,argued that since the matter was pending before the Speaker,any petition in the High Court in this regard is not maintainable. Mathur said the office of the Speaker commands the highest respect for its absolute and unvarying impartiality and the High Court or the Supreme Court could consider the matter only after the Speaker passes some order.

Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram

HC dismisses BSP MLAs petition for relief against disqualification

The Lucknow Bench of Allahabad High Court dismissed the petition of ruling Bahujan Samaj Party MLA Fareed Mahfooz Qidwai,who had sought relief against proceedings leading to his disqualification as member of the state Assembly.

HC dismisses BSP MLAs petition for relief against disqualification