Maharashtra Government made a failed attempt to silence BJP in Maharashtra. Now, it is having a hard time as the Supreme Court has ripped the Uddhav government apart. You might be thinking, how? Last year, 12 BJP Maharashtra MLAs were suspended by Uddhav Thackeray led Maharashtra Government. Now, the Supreme Court has set aside the suspension.
The Supreme Court reinstates suspended BJP MLAs
On Friday, the apex court quashed the suspension of 12 Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs from the Maharashtra Assembly for one year. The court ruled that the suspension was unconstitutional and arbitrary.
The state government had suspended these BJP MLAs for allegedly ‘misbehaving’ with presiding officer Bhaskar Jadhav in the Speaker’s chamber.
The 12 suspended members include Sanjay Kute, Ashish Shelar, Abhimanyu Pawar, Girish Mahajan, Atul Bhatkhalkar, Parag Alavani, Harish Pimpale, Yogesh Sagar, Jay Kumar Rawat, Narayan Kuche, Ram Satpute and Bunty Bhangdia.
A bench headed by Justice A M Khanwilkar stated that “The MLAs cannot be suspended beyond the session.” The court, while reinstating them, held that “The resolutions are malice in the eyes of law, ineffective and beyond the powers of the Assembly.”
Following the order, BJP MLA Girish Mahajan, one of the suspended leaders, stated, “The SC judgment is a slap on the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi government’s face. The suspension was an act of vendetta. They wanted to keep us away from the Speaker’s election. The Supreme Court’s judgment is fair and has undone the wrong.”
Supreme Court was critical of the suspension
Earlier as reported by TFI, A bench comprising of Justice AM Khanwilkar and Dinesh Maheshwari was hearing arguments challenging suspensions. To fight for legislative and constitutional rights of suspended MLAs, Senior Advocates Mahesh Jethmalani, Mukul Rohatgi, Neeraj Kishan Kaul and Siddharth Bhatnagar were leading the charge.
Read more: Supreme Court rains down heavily on MVA Govt in Maharashtra
Supreme Court (SC) had issued a strict rebuke to the MVA government of Maharashtra. It had clearly stated that a one-year suspension is worse than expulsion from the assembly. For their assertion, they reasoned that in case of expulsion, a mechanism is already there which ensures that seats are filled; however, no such procedure has been outlined in case of suspension. Once suspended, the people represented by the MLAs also lose their voices in assembly.
Outlining the absurdity of the suspension order, Court indirectly termed it anti-constitutional. According to Article 190 (4) of the constitution, a seat is deemed to be vacant in case a sitting MLA is absent from the house for more than 59 days; without taking permission.
Maharashtra Government, after being slapped by the Supreme Court, needs to learn that it should work towards strengthening its political power in the state rather than suspending members of the opposition for criticising them.