Tags:
Journalism of Courage
The Rajasthan High Court on Friday sought the entire records related to the resignation of 81 Congress MLAs last September.
Hearing a petition filed by Deputy Leader of Opposition Rajendra Rathore, a bench of Chief Justice Pankaj Mithal and Justice Shubha Mehta sought the original letters of resignation of 81 MLAs, the process adopted in connection with the resignation letters, the applications by MLAs for withdrawal of the said resignation letters, and the cancellation of the resignation letters by Speaker C P Joshi. The court has sought the relevant documents by January 30, 2023, the next date of hearing for the case.
As per an affidavit submitted with the high court on January 16, Assembly Secretary Mahaveer Prasad Sharma has said that “letters of resignations of 81 MLAS out of which five were photo copies, were received by the Hon’ble Speaker which were presented by six MLAs. The petitioner is not correct in contending that there were 91 resignations”.
Arguing the case himself, Rathore said on Friday that the affidavit submitted with the high court by the Assembly secretary has insufficient information and sought the relevant documents be brought on record.
In his prayer, Rathore said that earlier it was being said that 91 MLAs have resigned, but subsequently it was informed that 81 MLAs have resigned. “Which MLAs resigned, what were the Speaker’s remarks on these resignations, and whether an inquiry into the 110-day-old resignation letters was conducted under directions of the Speaker, and what the result of such an inquiry was, and whether the Speaker passed an order on the same, all this should be brought on record,” Rathore said.
Advocate General M S Singhvi said that as per rules, there is a provision to withdraw the resignations and since the MLAs withdrew the resignations, the resignation letters were rejected.
Responding to Singhvi’s statement, the Chief Justice said that the MLAs who submitted resignations are responsible public representatives and asked why there should be such a state of indecision, where the MLAs submit resignations and withdraw those 110 days later. He said that if MLAs have such indecisiveness, then how will they keep the views of the public in the Assembly, and that their actions promote horse-trading.
The court also asked the government to file a reply to Rathore’s plea and to tell the court whether a decision, which has to be taken by the Speaker, can be kept pending indefinitely, and what should be the time limit in the context of the present case. The Chief Justice said that primarily, the court has to now decide in what time a decision should be taken in such cases.
