New Delhi: Unconstitutional says SC scrapping the indefinite suspension of 12 BJP MLAs from the Maharashtra Assembly. Passing an ordeal, the SC said, “ suspending the MLAs beyond the sessions is unconstitutional and illegal.” This statement by the apex court was backed by the rule that stated suspension could be for a session and not beyond the session.
On January 12, the SC had said the suspension of 12 BJP MLAs for one year is worse than expulsion and as per the constitutional provision, a constituency cannot go unrepresented for over six months. It further highlighted that it would set a “dangerous precedent” if elected members are removed from the House for a long duration.
12 MLAs namely 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, were suspended from the assembly on July 5th last year. The state govt accused them of ‘misbehaving with the presiding officer Bhaskar Jadav. The motion forsuspension during the session as moved by state Parliamentary Affairs Minister Anil Parab.