Supreme Court seeks Centre’s reply on Kapil Sibal’s plea over anti-defection law

Issuing notice to the Centre, a bench of Justices P S Narasimha and Alok Aradhe, however, observed if it is not an issue for the Parliament to deal with.

3 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Jul 28, 2026 02:55 AM IST

Sibal, who is an independent Rajya Sabha member, submitted before the bench that the matter has consequences for polity as electoral majority can be turned into minority by resorting to mergers. (Express Photo)

The Supreme Court on Monday sought the Centre’s response to a plea filed by Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal questioning the interpretation of the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution that allows lawmakers to avoid disqualification under the anti-defection law by claiming a merger with another political party.

Issuing notice to the Centre, a bench of Justices P S Narasimha and Alok Aradhe, however, observed if it is not an issue for the Parliament to deal with.

The plea contends that the current interpretation gives splinter groups room to avoid the anti-defection law by merging with other political parties.

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Sibal, who is an independent Rajya Sabha member, submitted before the bench that the matter has consequences for polity as electoral majority can be turned into minority by resorting to mergers.

“Electoral verdict can be changed through this process. A majority can become minority and a minority can become majority,” he submitted while referring to the 2022 Goa defection matter which is pending before the top court.

In 2022, eight of 10 Congress MLAs in Goa, claiming to form two-third of the Congress legislature party, had declared a “merger” with BJP and sought protection under the Tenth Schedule.

Justice Narasimha said, “These are issues typically to be raised before the floor of the House.. If not, then at least before political parties. The Tenth Schedule is intended to regulate the mechanism between the legislators… What transpired in the working of the Tenth Schedule, we have been seeing enormous issues about the Tenth Schedule.”

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