In the midst of Maharashtra's continuing political crisis, an application has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking a 5-year ban on MLAs who are either disqualified from the state assemblies or have resigned.
The Petition stated that “Recently, from June 18, 2022, to June 22, 2022, the same thing is repeated in the state of Maharashtra. These political parties are once again attempting to undermine our country's democratic structure. As a result, immediate direction from this court is required, as requested in this motion for direction.”
Jaya Thakur, a Congress lawmaker from Madhya Pradesh, filed the plea in a pending petition filed by her in 2021, in which the Supreme Court asked for the Centre's response in January 2021. “Those respondents have yet to submit a counter-affidavit, notwithstanding the ample opportunity afforded by this court. Political parties are exploiting this situation and systematically disrupting elected administrations in numerous places across our country,” the Petition added.
The petition contended that, there has recently been a concerted pan-India attempt by political parties to render the provisions of the Constitution's Tenth Schedule otiose and redundant. It further stated that, once a member of the House is disqualified under the Tenth Schedule, he or she cannot run again during the time for which he or she was elected.
“Article 172 makes membership of a House co-terminus with the term of 5 years of the House except in circumstances mentioned therein. That once the 10th Schedule comes into play and a seat falls vacant due to disqualification then that particular disqualified member of the House has to incur disability under Article 191 (1) (e) and will be debarred from being chosen again during the term for which he/she was elected,” it was added.
According to the petition, in Karnataka in 2019, 17 MLAs who resigned/were disqualified by the Speaker for anti-party activity ran for re-election, and 11 of them were re-elected. It was stated that ten of them were given cabinet positions in the new government created after the previous one dissolved.
The petitioner sought the Supreme Court to bar those MLAs from running for office for five years, beginning with the date of their resignation/disqualification from the Assembly. According to the 2021 petition, political parties aim to render the provisions of the Tenth Schedule obsolete by forcing ruling party MLAs to resign from the House, resulting in the government's collapse.
“There is a growing trend of Speakers acting against the constitutional duty of being neutral. Additionally, political parties are indulging in horse-trading and corrupt practices, due to which citizens are denied a stable government. Such undemocratic practices need to be curbed,” it was added.
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