Petitioner Congress MLA hails the order of SC
Newmai News Network
IMPHAL | March 18
Manipur Forest and Environment minister Thounaojam Shyamkumar, who is facing disqualification case, has been restrained from entering the state legislative assembly and also stripped off cabinet minister's post from him.
This information was revealed to the media in Imphal on Wednesday by petitioner K Meghachandra Singh who is also a Congress MLA.
The order was passed by a bench of Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman and Justice S Ravindra Bhat of the Apex Court on Wednesday after hearing to a case related with a petition seeking disqualification of Th Shyamkumar who was elected as MLA on Congress ticket but defected to the BJP after the state Assembly elections in 2017.
The Court, however, left the matter to decide on the fate of the MLA whether to disqualify or not, to the Tribunal of the Speaker of Manipur Legislative Assembly where the cases related with the petitions to disqualify Shyamkumar is pending.
The Speaker’s Tribunal had earlier reserved the judgment for the disqualification case till March 28.
Hailing today’s order of the apex court, Congress MLA K Meghachandra Singh who is the petitioner of the case observed that it is almost the status of disqualification of the MLA (Shyamkumar) from being a member of the state legislative assembly.
Talking to reporters at his official quarter in Imphal, the Congress MLA said that today’s order of the Apex Court inclined to deliver justice and hoped that the verdict of Tribunal of the Speaker of the state Assembly will also be in favour of justice.
He then said that the Supreme Court had refrained from pronouncing the final verdict of the case considering the dignity of the Speaker and if the Speaker fails to pronounce the final judgment of the case, the Supreme Court will come with its final verdict.
“In case if the honourable Speaker fails to disqualify (Shyamkumar) on March 28, then the Supreme Court will disqualify the MLA,” Meghachandra hoped.
Earlier, the Court, in an order passed on January 21, 2020, had directed the Speaker to take a decision on the pending disqualification petitions within a period of four weeks from the date when the judgment is intimated to him.
After one month expired, the Speaker led a miscellaneous application and requested for eight more weeks in order to decide the cases before him, which was later not pressed.
A cross miscellaneous application was also led requesting the Court to decide disqualification petitions itself.
When the matter came up before the bench today, Solicitor General requested the Court to defer the matter till March 28, 2020, by which time, he said, there would be a judgment on the disqualification applications by the learned Speaker.
After hearing the Solicitor General and Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal (who opposed the plea to defer the matters), the bench ordered that “Respondent no. 3 (Shyamkumar) is restrained from entering the Legislative Assembly till further orders of this Court. Needless to add, he will cease to be a minister of the cabinet immediately.”
