Rajasthan Speaker: 81 MLAs claimed in person that resignations not voluntary

In the reply to the petition filed by Deputy Leader of Opposition Rajendra Rathore, Sharma said the resignation letters were presented to Joshi by Chief Whip Mahesh Joshi, Deputy Chief Whip Mahendra Choudhary, ministers Shanti Dhariwal and Ramlal Jat, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot’s advisor Sanyam Lodha, and MLA Rafeek Khan.

“All the 81 MLAs did not hand over the resignation letters but the resignation letters were presented by six MLAs and out of these 81 letters of resignation five were photocopies. Thus, the Hon’ble Speaker was well within his right to keep the matter for consideration and determination … as to whether the resignation letters were voluntary or not,” Sharma said in his reply.

“It is wrong to contend that resignations in this case were submitted voluntarily,” reads the reply submitted before a bench of Chief Justice Pankaj Mithal and Justice Shubha Mehta. On another page, it says, “There is nothing on record which shows that even those six MLAs informed the Hon’ble Speaker that the resignation letters were voluntary and genuine.”

Sharma also said, “It was further recorded by the Hon’ble Speaker that the circumstances that each of the members not submitting his resignation separately, six members submitting the 81 resignation letters, which included five photocopies, warrant that a complete satisfaction is required to be arrived at so that no Member is deprived of his membership.”

As per the list, of the 81, 70 are from Congress while nine are Independents, one is from Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) and one is a legislator expelled from the BJP. While Subhash Garg of the RLD is a minister in the Gehlot government, the BJP’s Shobharani Kushwah was expelled from the party last year following her “rebellion” during the Rajya Sabha elections when she cross-voted in favour of Congress candidate Pramod Tiwari.

Responding to the reply, Rathore, told reporters, “If the resignations were not voluntary, then under whose pressure were they submitted?” In his reply to the High Court, Sharma said, “Under what circumstances, the letters of resignation were submitted cannot be commented upon by the answering respondent as those who signed those letters can only explain the same.”

In a previous hearing, the High Court had said, “The sole issue which is arising for consideration is as to the time period the Speaker is supposed to take in discharge of his statutory obligation vis-à-vis decision on the resignations of the MLAs tendered to him in September, 2022 …”

In this regard, it was pointed out in the reply that neither Article 190(3) of the Constitution nor rule 173 of the Assembly Rules provides for any time limit. “Therefore, if the circumstances warrant it may take a few months for the Speaker to take decision.” Additionally, it was reasoned that in October, November, and December the Speaker had to travel to various places as well as his constituency, thus keeping him occupied.

Most Congress MLAs skipped the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting and submitted their resignations to Joshi on September 25, along with the other legislators, in protest against the Congress high command’s “unilateral” decision to opt for a new chief minister — said to have been Sachin Pilot — without consulting them. Gehlot, at that time, was in the running for the post of Congress national president.

In his PIL, filed in December, Rathore argued that the people of Rajasthan “are in a state of confusion whether presently they are governed by a government which is validly placed or not”. He added, “The strength (of the Assembly) has come down to 109 since 91 MLAs have resigned. So what is the status of this government?”

Subsequently, all the MLAs appeared before the Speaker in person and withdrew their resignations.