ON January 18, 2022, the Supreme Court held that the suspension of 12 MLAs of the BJP in the Maharashtra legislative assembly for a period of one year was "irrational and unconstitutional”. On January 11, the Court had observed that suspension for one year was worse than expulsion as it affected the right of their respective constituencies to remain represented in the House.
A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court was hearing petitions filed by the MLAs challenging their suspension on July 55, 2021, for alleged misbehaviour with the presiding officer in his chamber. The motion to suspend these MLAs was moved by the minister of parliamentary affairs and passed in the assembly by a voice vote. On December 14, 2021, the apex court had sought responses from the Maharashtra assembly and the state government on the pleas of the MLAs returnable on January 11, 2022, adding that the pendency of the matter will not come in the way of parties to approach the House and the House may take this into account.
The petitioners had urged that the action against them was “motivated, mala fide, excessive and disproportionate”. It was argued that, as even the motion for suspension clearly states, the alleged incident of frisking occurred in the chamber of the Speaker with Bhaskar Jadhav who is merely a member of the panel of presiding officers. Therefore, the moment he stepped down from the chair, he ceased to act in the capacity of the Speaker. The provisions in the Constitution as well as the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Rules, 2015 (Assembly Rules, for short) did not apply to him in his capacity as the Speaker. Thus, any alleged scuffle, if at all it had taken place, was only between the MLAs and did not concern the Speaker/Deputy Speaker per se. The 12 MLAs could not thus have been suspended under the Rules.
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