The Supreme Court Thursday allowed the Rajasthan High Court to pronounce order on the plea of 19 dissident Congress MLAs, including Sachin Pilot, against the Assembly Speaker's notice for initiating disqualification proceedings against them but said that it would be subject to the outcome of the petition before the top court.
Rajasthan Assembly Speaker CP Joshi however failed to get any interim relief on his plea alleging that the high court cannot interdict the disqualification proceedings undertaken by him under the 10th schedule of the Constitution.
A bench of Justices Arun Mishra, B R Gavai and Krsihna Murari said Joshi's plea raises important questions and requires prolonged hearing. "We are not restraining the High Court from passing the order but it will be subject to the outcome of the petition (of Speaker) before the Supreme Court," the bench said while fixing the plea for hearing on July 27. "Voice of dissent in a democracy cannot be shut down", the bench observed.
Sachin Pilot and 18 other rebel MLAs had gone to the Rajasthan High Court against disqualification notices served to them by the assembly Speaker after they skipped two meetings called by the Chief Minister. The High Court will announce a decision on Friday, and asked Speaker CP Joshi to pause any action against the rebels till then.
Here are the Highlights on Rajasthan Political Crisis:
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal appearing for Rajasthan Speaker CP Joshi says, the court can't direct the Speaker to extend the time to file their replies to the anti-defection notices. It's not in the jurisdiction of the court, Sibal says.
- ANI (@ANI) July 23, 2020
Written a letter to Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. pic.twitter.com/P2TnSoa0Cu
- Ashok Gehlot (@ashokgehlot51) July 22, 2020
