The division bench of the Rajasthan High Court is hearing a petition filed by former Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot and 18 MLAs against the disqualification notices issued to them by Assembly Speaker C P Joshi. The notices were served after the ruling party complained to the Speaker that the MLAs had defied a party whip to attend two Congress Legislature Party meetings, on Monday and Tuesday.
It is reported that earlier in the day the Congress removed two of its MLAs from its primary membership for allegedly being involved in the conspiracy to topple the Ashok Gehlot government. The party also demanded an FIR against Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat for allegedly bribing the legislators in the state, a claim refuted by the BJP leader.
The tussle in Rajasthan Congress has now landed in court, with Sachin PIlot and 18 other MLAs challenging their disqualification by the Assembly Speaker. The Rajasthan HC will hear their amended petition today.
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Rajasthan political crisis live updates:
14:58: Speaker to take up disqualification plea at 5 pm
Speaker C P Joshi is expected to take up the matter pertaining to the disqualification of the MLAs at 5 pm, instead of 1 pm as mentioned in the notices.
14:47: HC bench to resume hearing on Pilot plea at 2.50 pm
The bench, which is on a break, will resume its hearing at 2.50 pm, according to Live Law.
13:55: Acts outside the House are not violation of anti-defection law: Salve
Rajasthan Chief Justice Indrajit Mahanty and Justice Prakash Gupta are currently hearing the pleas. The bench allowed Congress chief whip Mahesh Joshi’s plea to be added as a respondent in the case. Acts outside the House are not violation of anti-defection law, Congress dissident MLAs’ advocate Harish Salve said in the court.
13:42: Congress frustrated, now using manufactured audio clip: Sambit Patra
Meanwhile, BJP leader Sambit Patra said: “The BJP rejects all the baseless allegations being levelled against the BJP leaders by Congress in Rajasthan. Actually, Congress is frustrated as it couldn’t put its house in order. They want to blame BJP for their failures by using a manufactured audio clip.”
