New Delhi: A division bench of the Rajasthan High Court on Tuesday issued show-cause notices to Rajasthan Assembly Speaker Dr C P Joshi, including his secretary, on the mass resignation by over 91 Congress MLAs. The court has given three weeks time to the speaker and his secretary to respond to the notice.
A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed by Deputy Leader of Opposition (BJP) RS Rathore, DB Justices MM Srivastava and Vinod Kumar Bharwani. Through a show cause notice, the court asked the speaker why this PIL should not be accepted.
Rathod had filed a PIL seeking judicial intervention in the matter as he alleged that Speaker Dr. Joshi was using dilatory tactics instead of taking a decision on the issue of mass resignation of 91 Congress MLAs on September 25 by the ruling Congress party. were resorting to. ,
It is noteworthy that the Chief Whip of the ruling Congress and PHED Minister Dr. Mahesh Joshi, Deputy Whip Mahendra Chaudhary, Advisor to the Chief Minister Sanyam Lodha, Parliamentary Affairs and UDH Minister Shanti Dhariwal had submitted the resignations of 92 MLAs to the Speaker after three days. Hours of political drama ensued at Dhariwal’s residence in September when two Congress observers, Ajay Maken and Mallikarjun Kharge, came to hold a CLP meeting.
On 18 October, the BJP MLAs submitted a letter to the Speaker demanding prompt action and acceptance of the resignations of the Congress MLAs, who boycotted their CLP meeting and opposed the one liner resolution of the Congress high command. But in fact, “the Speaker has not ensured any action on the matter,” Rathore pointed out in his PIL.
In the written letter, the BJP has demanded that the Assembly Speaker take a decision on the valid membership of the MLAs in the House.
“In exercise of the powers conferred under the provisions of Article 190(3)(b) of the Constitution, the MLA has resigned from the membership of the Legislative Assembly. Citing other sections and provisions like 208, 173 (1 and 2) of the Constitution, the Speaker will accept these resignations with immediate effect, the letter underlined.
