Raj MLAs challenge notices, seek time to file fresh petition

Congress chief whip Mahesh Joshi, who had written to the Speaker, also requested the court to be heard before it passes any order

Sachin Pilot and 18 other dissident leaders on Thursday moved the High Court, challenging the notices from the Rajasthan Speaker over a Congress move to disqualify them from the state assembly. But as the matter was taken up for hearing by Justice Satish Chandra Sharma, their advocate Harish sought time to file a fresh petition. The judge granted them time to draft a new petition. The matter will now be heard by a larger division bench.

Congress chief whip Mahesh Joshi, who had written to the Speaker seeking the MLAs' disqualification, also approached the court, asking to be heard before it passes any order. The 19 MLAs were sent notices on Tuesday by the Speaker after the Congress complained that they had defied a party whip to attend two Congress Legislature Party meetings.

The Pilot camp, however, argues that a party whip applies only when the assembly is in session. In its complaint to Speaker C P Joshi, the Congress sought action against Pilot and the other dissidents under paragraph 2 (1) (a) of the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution.

Now, Jharkhand Congress leaders worried

After facing political storms in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, the fear of losing MLAs is now haunting Congress leaders in Jharkhand. Senior Congress leader and Jharkhand minister Rameshwar Oraon said the BJP is trying to break the Congress MLAs. The BJP, however, denies such allegations, calling it a strategy of the Congress to pressurise the chief minister.

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