JAIPUR/NEW DELHI: All eyes will be on the Supreme Court on Thursday as it will hear Rajasthan assembly Speaker CP Joshi’s plea challenging the High Court order directing him to defer action against Sachin Pilot and other dissident Congress MLAs to avert a constitutional crisis.
The Speaker filed a Special Leave Petition, which said: “The High Court order is a direct intrusion into the exclusive domain of the Speaker.”
In counter-attack, the Pilot camp filed a caveat in the top court urging it not to give any order on the Speaker’s petition without hearing their side.
The High Court had asked the Speaker not to take any action till Friday on the disqualification notices issued to the 19 MLAs led by Pilot.
Addressing the media in Jaipur before filing his petition, Joshi asserted that only the Speaker had the power to disqualify MLAs.
He said there were several Supreme Court verdicts which clarify that the judiciary cannot interfere before the Speaker delivers a ruling.
“I don’t want a confrontation. I respect the judges... but the roles are well defined,” Joshi said. Terming the rebels’ petition as a dangerous precedent that could lead to breakdown of constitutional norms, Joshi warned that they were “heading for a constitutional crisis”.
According to Congress sources, the decision to move Supreme Court was taken as the party felt the HC was unnecessarily delaying the verdict and could favour the other side.
“The Rajasthan High Court has asked the Speaker not to take any action against rebel MLAs till Friday and a review petition can only be filed in the matter on Monday, if a verdict comes in favour of rebel MLAs,” a source said. The party feels it is just a delay tactics as CM Gehlot wants to immediately call the assembly session.
Amid the heightened political uncertainty, Sachin Pilot and his MLAs continue to remain “missing”.
Pilot has served a legal notice on Congress MLA Giriraj Singh Malinga, who had alleged that Pilot had offered him huge money to join the BJP, asking for a token compensation of one rupee and an apology for his “malicious” remarks within a week or face criminal case of defamation.