The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a plea filed by a BJP leader challenging the approval granted by Rajasthan Assembly Speaker C.P. Joshi to the ‘merger’ of six BSP MLAs in Rajasthan with the ruling Congress party.
A Bench led by Justice Arun Mishra found the petition filed by BJP MLA Madan Dilawar to be infructuous after it learnt that the Rajasthan High Court had, earlier in the day, given the Speaker three months to decide a petition filed by Mr. Dilawar for the disqualification of the six MLAs for defection.
On August 13, the Supreme Court had refused to stay Speaker Joshi’s September 18, 2019 decision to recognise the merger.
The Bench had refused to interfere as the case against the merger was at the time being heard in the High Court. The court’s disinclination to intervene was despite apprehensions raised by Mr. Dilawar that there may be a floor test in the Assembly. Senior advocate Harish Salve, for Mr. Dilawar, had even raised the spectre of the six MLAs defying the BSP whip and voting in favour of the Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government. Mr. Gehlot has since retained power.
Mr. Dilawar had moved the apex court against a Rajasthan High Court Division Bench order of August 6 refusing to immediately stay Speaker Joshi’s recognition of the ‘merger’. He maintained that the Speaker, instead of accepting the ‘merger’ on September 18 last year, ought to have disqualified them.
