Delhi HC allows 7 Delhi BJP MLAs to ‘rejoin House forthwith’
NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday ordered the reinstatement of the seven BJP MLAs, who were suspended indefinitely from the Assembly for interrupting L-G VK Saxena’s address on the first day of the Budget session.
The MLAs had allegedly interrupted the L-G multiple times during his address on February 15 highlighting the AAP government’s achievements. Despite repeated warnings by the Speaker, the disruption continued leading to their indefinite suspension.
The petitioner MLAs approached the HC, arguing that they had been suspended from the House by invoking Clause 44 of the Fifth Schedule, which could be imposed only for a specific period and not indefinite.
The HC was dealing with the petitions filed by the MLAs—Mohan Singh Bisht, Ajay Mahawar, OP Sharma, Abhay Verma, Anil Vajpayi, Jitender Mahajan, and Vijender Gupta.
In his order, Justice Subramonium Prasad noted that the Speaker, who is an impartial arbitrator and conducts the House, has not taken any decision independently and has not held that the matter is one that requires to be referred to the Committee of Privileges.
“... Since the Petitioners have already undergone the suspension of 14 sittings, this Court is of the opinion that the Petitioners should be permitted to re-join the House forthwith,” the order held.