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Business News/ News / India/  SC awaits speaker’s reply over delay in accepting resignation
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SC awaits speaker’s reply over delay in accepting resignation

The 16 rebel legislators maintain that they were in Bengaluru on their own and not at the behest of BJP
  • The MLAs said that they were in Bengaluru on their own and not due to pressure from BJP
  • Madhya Pradesh assembly speaker N.P. Prajapati (right) will inform the court about his decision on Thursday. (Photo: HT)Premium
    Madhya Pradesh assembly speaker N.P. Prajapati (right) will inform the court about his decision on Thursday. (Photo: HT)

    The Supreme Court on Wednesday questioned Madhya Pradesh assembly speaker N.P. Prajapati about the delay in accepting resignations of 16 of the 22 rebel Congress MLAs from the state.

    Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing the speaker, said he will inform the court about Prajapati’s decision on the resignations on Thursday.

    The Supreme Court bench of Justices D.Y. Chandrachud and Hemant Gupta were hearing arguments on cross petitions filed by the former Madhya Pradesh chief minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Shivraj Singh Chouhan and the Madhya Pradesh Congress party on the ongoing political crisis in the state after the 22 MLAs resigned.

    The BJP leader sought directions for a floor test to be held immediately in the Madhya Pradesh assembly, while the Congress party sought directions to the Centre and the BJP-led Karnataka government to grant it access to its rebel MLAs who are holed up at the Ramada resort on the outskirts of Bengaluru.

    Meanwhile, former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Digvijay Singh, newly appointed Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) chief D.K. Shivakumar and others were stopped by the police from entering the Ramada resort.

    The Congress alleged that the BJP was behind the crisis in Madhya Pradesh.

    “Banks are collapsing, non-performing assets are increasing, unemployment is growing and we have a coronavirus threat that is as bad as Spanish flu. The government is not worried about that. The BJP is busy toppling duly elected governments," Digvijay Singh said in Bengaluru.

    On Wednesday, the rebel legislators said that they were in Bengaluru on their own and not because of prompting by the BJP. The legislators, who openly backed former Congress member of Parliament Jyotiraditya Schindia at a press conference on Wednesday, are yet to decide on whether they will also join the BJP.

    The MLAs allege that Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath had forced them to resign by sidelining development in their constituencies. “We are ready to face any consequence," Rajvardhan Singh, the Congress legislator from Badnawar, said on Wednesday.

    In almost day-long arguments before the division bench of Justices D.Y. Chandrachud and Hemant Gupta on Wednesday, proposals were floated that the 16 MLAs could be produced in the chamber of the judges or the registrar general of Karnataka high court could meet them in Bangalore to ascertain that they have not been held captive and could video record the meeting. However, the top court rejected these proposals.

    Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing Chouhan, refuted the claim that the rebel MLAs have been held captive. Rohatgi also questioned the maintainability of the petition filed by the Congress to meet the MLAs.

    Senior advocate Maninder Singh, representing the rebel MLAs, contended that it is the constitutional right of the legislators to resign. He also apprised the court that they had held a press conference declaring that they had taken the decision of their own free will and this has been sworn in their affidavits as well. The bench adjourned the case for further hearing on 19 March at 10.30 am. It said that as of now it knows that the 16 MLAs of Madhya Pradesh tilt the balance one way or the other.

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    Published: 18 Mar 2020, 11:31 PM IST
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