12 BJP MLAs move SC against one-year suspension from Maharashtra Assembly

The suspended BJP legislators address the media during the Monsoon Session of the assembly. Pic/Suresh Karkera

The 12 BJP members, who were suspended early this month for a year on the charges of creating ruckus in the house and misbehaving with the presiding officer, have moved the Supreme Court. They have urged the court to set aside the resolution in which the disciplinary action was approved in the lower house on July 5, and grant a stay on their suspension till their plea is decided.

One of the MLAs and party's chief whip in the Assembly, Ashish Shelar said from New Delhi on Thursday that they have made a group of four each for filing writ in the SC. "We had said the action taken against us was unconstitutional and the resolution the house passed was illegal. We have prayed before the court that the resolution be set aside and suspension stayed till a decision comes in the case," he added.

Shelar said some people (in the government) maintained that the legislature was sovereign and its decisions cannot be challenged in the Supreme Court. "Let the court decide it. We will accept whatever decision comes. But we want to tell the people who advised us against moving the Apex Court that, like them, we also understand the law. We will fight this out till the end."

In a two-day Monsoon session the former ministers Sanjay Kute, Shelar, Girish Mahajan, Jaikumar Rawal and Yogesh Sagar, Abhimanyu Pawar, Atul Bhatkalkar, Parag Alavni, Harish Pimpale, Ram Satpute, Narayan Kuche and Kirtikumar ‘Bunty' Bhagadia were suspended. After a ruckus and adjournments over a resolution for seeking the OBC's empirical data from the Centre for restoring the political reservation, the legislators were reported for manhandling and abusing the presiding officer Bhaskar Jadhav in the deputy speaker's office. The MLAs had refuted the charge, calling the action a conspiracy to decrease the BJP's strength in the house. Opposition leader Devendra Fadnavis had said the ruling party and opposition MLAs sparred but Jadhav was neither abused nor manhandled. He said it was Jadhav who used un-parliamentary words.

The suspended MLAs had petitioned Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, requesting him to seek a report from the government. The suspensions were linked to the delay by the governor in appointing 12 government nominees to the Legislative Council, and the Speaker's elections, to be held in the forthcoming session. Sources said the Speaker's election, if held when the BJP members are serving suspension, would also be challenged in the court on a charge that the government has created an artificial majority.

BJP pays off Rs 19L debt of MPSC victim's kin

The BJP has paid off the entire debt of a family of Pune youth who committed suicide because the Maharashtra State Public Service Commission (MPSC) did not interview for a government job despite him clearing a qualifying exam two years ago.

Last month, Swapnil Lonkar, a 24-year-old civil engineer, had described his agony in a suicide note, saying that it wouldn't be possible for him to service the loan his family has taken for his education and preparation for the competitive exams. He had blamed the delay by MPSC for his frustration that ultimately led to the suicide.

Swapnil's unfortunate death had created a public outcry. It led to a stormy discussion in a two-day Monsoon Session of the State Legislature, following which the government decided to expedite the recruitment procedure by equipping the MPSC better.

However, after having lost a son, the Lonkar family had no way to pay off the Rs 19.96 lakh loan that it had taken from a co-operative society. The family's small business has been stalled because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The BJP invited Swapnil's father Sunil Lonkar to Mumbai on the occasion of ex-CM Devendra Fadnavis's 51st birthday on Thursday. Fadnavis handed a cheque of Rs 19.96 lakh to the distressed father.