Speaker should have applied his mind before sending notice to Sachin Pilot, rebel Congress MLAs: Harish Salve argues before Rajasthan HC

The Rajasthan High Court today adjourned proceedings in the petition filed by Sachin Pilot and other rebel MLAs of the Congress party challenging the issuance of notices by the Speaker of the legislative assembly for "anti-party activities"..Arguments in the matter will resume via video conference at 10:30 AM tomorrow..The matter was heard today by a Division Bench of Chief Justice Indrajit Mahanty and Justice Prakash Gupta..Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing the Speaker of the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly Dr CP Joshi, continued with his arguments today. He argued that the courts have no jurisdiction over the disqualification of any member. Citing examples and precedents, Singhvi claimed that judicial review is absolutely barred in this case."What will happen if the Speaker orders video recordings of court proceedings?".He went on to cite the Supreme Court's judgment in Kihoto Hollohan v. Zachillhu and Ors. Even in Kihoto, the scope of judicial review was limited, Singhvi said. He added that until the Speaker decides on the disqualifications, the courts cannot interfere..Singhvi went to cite the recent judgment in the Manipur Legislative Assembly case, where the Supreme Court urged Parliament to have a rethink on whether a Speaker ought to decide on disqualification petitions filed under the Tenth Schedule to the Constitution of India..Time for Parliament to rethink whether disqualification petitions ought to be entrusted to Speaker: Supreme Court .In response to the claim of the rebel Congress MLAs that the Speaker had issued the disqualification notices with "unholy haste", Singhvi said,"The Speaker is 71 years old. No office was conducted during Corona. Rajya Sabha elections from Rajasthan have been postponed. How can the petitioners say that the Speaker has jumped the gun?".The Bench then raised the question as to whether the Speaker has to apply his mind while issuing a notice on a complaint against a legislator.Singhvi clarified that as long as the complaint is not outlandish, there was no need for the Speaker to accord reasons to issue show cause notices..The Bench then asked Advocate Devadatt Kamat, appearing for the Congress party, whether the MLAs in question were suspended. Kamat replied,"The question is about initiating the process of disqualification. It's a constitutional process."Kamat was then asked if the Congress party had filed an FIR against Pilot and the MLAs before raising a complaint with the Speaker. To this, he replied,"Not my client, my lords, it is the government (of Rajasthan) which had filed the complaint.".Senior Advocate Harish Salve, appearing for Pilot and the rebel MLAs, requested that he be given permission to argue at 5 PM. The same was granted by the Bench..Referring to the complaint against the legislators made by the Congress party to the Speaker, Salve said,"If a complaint of this nature is entertained, this is per se illegal...Speaker should have applied his mind before sending notice...This is violating my constitutional right of free speech.".He further argued that intra-party disputes cannot be a ground for starting disqualification proceedings..After Salve concluded, the Court adjourned the proceedings for 10:30 AM tomorrow, when Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi will make submissions on behalf of the petitioners..On the last date of hearing, after hearing the parties, the High Court had adjourned the matter to July 20..The Division Bench of the High Court had ordered the Speaker not to take any action on disqualification of the MLAs till 5:30 PM on July 21..[Rajasthan Political Crisis] Rajasthan HC defers hearing in Sachin Pilot case till July 20, Speaker to take no action till July 21 evening.On July 16, a Single Judge Bench of Justice Satish Chandra Sharma had delivered an order in the plea filed by Sachin Pilot and other Congress MLAs seeking to quash the Speaker's notice, and approved the prayer to amend their writ petition..Rajasthan crisis: HC allows Sachin Pilot, rebel Congress MLAs to move amendment plea to challenge Constitutionality of "some provisions".The amended writ petition had challenged the Constitutionality of Clause 2(1)(a) of the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution of India for being violative of Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution. The Tenth Schedule deals with the law regarding anti-defection..[Rajasthan crisis] Rajasthan HC approves amendment to petition filed by Sachin Pilot & team; Plea to be heard by Division Bench tomorrow.The Speaker of the Rajasthan Assembly had issued disqualification notices against the rebel Congress MLAs on the ground that they violated the direction issued by party chief whip Dr. Mahesh Joshi to attend the legislative party meeting on Monday and Tuesday..[Breaking] Passed in "Unholy Haste, mala fide": Plea in Rajasthan HC seeks to quash Speaker's notice against Sachin Pilot, Congress MLAs .The rebel MLAs assert in the writ petition challenging the issuance of these notices that they have not expressed any intention to leave or voluntarily give up their membership of Indian National Congress.