New Delhi: The Supreme Court will on Thursday hear the appeal of Rajasthan Assembly Speaker CP Joshi against the stay order of Rajasthan High Court that asked the Speaker to not take action against the rebel MLAs till July 24. The stay order was passed on a petition by Sachin Pilot and 18 other MLAs.
Speaker Joshi has said that he has filed Special Leave Petition (SLP) in Supreme Court to avoid contradiction between the decisions of Speaker and court.
"My effort was to respect the Rajasthan High Court`s order that`s why I extended hearing for July 21 when the court asked. Yesterday, the court asked me to wait till July 24 and I respected that too. Since the matter is in court, the Speaker can not proceed further. I have filed a Special Leave Petition in Supreme Court to avoid contradiction between decisions of Speaker and court," CP Joshi told ANI.
Joshi approached the Supreme Court against the interim order passed by the Rajasthan High Court on the petition filed by Sachin Pilot and MLAs from his camp against the disqualification notices issued against them.
In his SLP, Joshi said the impugned interim order has interdicted and restrained the Speaker from calling of replies and conducting hearing of the disqualification proceedings pending against the respondents till July 24.
Sachin Pilot also filed a caveat in the Supreme Court to ensure that no orders are passed on Joshi`s petition against High Court interim orders without hearing him and his supporting MLAs. Notably, a caveat is a notice seeking that certain actions may not be taken without informing the person who gave the notice.
Earlier on Tuesday, the high court had said that it would deliver its order on July 24 on a petition filed by Pilot and 18 other MLAs, asking the Speaker to defer the disqualification proceedings till then.
Joshi had sent notices to Sachin Pilot and 18 dissident MLAs under the anti-defection law after chief`s whip application for their disqualification.
The notices to these MLAs were served after the party complained to the Speaker that the legislators had allegedly defied a whip to attend two Congress Legislature Party meetings last week.
The Sachin Pilot camp, however, argued that a party whip applies only when the Assembly is in session.
