New Delhi: BJP MLA Vijender Gupta on Thursday moved the Delhi High Court against his suspension for one year till the next budget session by Speaker Ram Niwas Goel for allegedly interfering in the proceedings of the Assembly.
The matter was mentioned on Thursday before a bench headed by senior advocate Jayant Mehta, Chief Justice of Delhi, appearing for Gupta. Chief Justice of Delhi High Court agreed to list the matter tomorrow. The case has been filed by Advocates Neeraj, Pawan Narang and Satya Ranjan Swain. The petition states that on March 20, 2023, Kailash Gehlot, Finance Minister, Government of NCT of Delhi, made a statement claiming that the Ministry of Home Affairs deliberately delayed his budget by not giving approval. The above statement was posted by Gopal Rai, another minister of the Delhi government, from his Twitter handle.
The petition states that this act of breach of privilege was witnessed by the petitioner late in the evening. Before the commencement of the session i.e. before 11:00 am, the petitioner submitted a notice for breach of privilege of motion against Finance Minister Gehlot. However, the petitioner was not allowed to make a detailed statement.
Petitioner Vijender Gupta submitted that Delhi Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel repeatedly interrupted on one pretext or the other and marshalled the petitioner. After the petitioner was taken out by the Marshal, withdrawing his order, the Speaker called the petitioner back and allowed him to make the statement.
However, surprisingly after 10 seconds his microphone was switched off and he was not allowed to make the statement. In the petition, Gupta said that therefore the petitioner went to the Well of the House to show the provisions of the Assembly Rules to the Speaker.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Sanjeev Jha moved a motion to suspend the petitioner from the House for one year. The Speaker put the resolution to vote by voice vote and ordered the suspension of the petitioner without any justification and again marshaled the petitioner out.
The said act of suspension is unjust, unjustified, unreasonable and against the principles of established position of law but also violative of the powers and privileges of the members of the House under Article 194 of the Constitution of India.
