On July 31, a prime court docket bench headed by Chief Justice B R Gavai directed the meeting speaker to determine in three months the matter of the disqualification of the ten Bharat Rashtra Samithi MLAs.
On Monday, a lawyer talked about the contempt petition for pressing listening to, saying the speaker had not acted inside the three-month deadline.
“Listing it subsequent Monday,” CJI Gavai mentioned.
Expressing concern over the delay, the counsel mentioned the respondents have been “dragging the proceedings until the tip of the month for apparent causes”, an obvious reference to CJI Gavai's retirement on November 23.
“The Supreme Court docket won't shut after the twenty fourth of November,” the CJI mentioned.The counsel representing the petitioners additionally submitted that no proceedings had been carried out because the court docket's July 31 order.”The MLAs are nonetheless persevering with. Your lordships had held that if any MLA was attempting to protract the proceedings, an antagonistic inference can be drawn. Two petitions are pending. The speaker has not touched them. Others are within the proof stage,” the counsel mentioned.
The contempt plea stems from the apex court docket's July 31 judgment, delivered by a bench of the CJI and Justice AG Masih, in a batch of writ petitions filed by BRS leaders KT Rama Rao, Padi Kaushik Reddy, and KO Vivekanand.
The highest court docket reiterated that the speaker acts as a tribunal whereas deciding disqualification pleas underneath Tenth Schedule of the Structure and consequently doesn't take pleasure in “constitutional immunity”.
The Tenth Schedule offers with provisions on disqualification on the grounds of defection.
“The very basis of our democracy is shaken when elected representatives are allowed to defect and but proceed in workplace with out well timed adjudication. Parliament had trusted the excessive workplace of the Speaker to behave expeditiously. That belief, in lots of circumstances, has not been honoured,” the bench had mentioned.
