SC refuses to stay HP Assembly Speaker order disqualifying rebel Congress MLAs
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Monday refused to stay the order of the Himachal Pradesh Assembly Speaker disqualifying six Congress rebels, who had cross-voted in the recent Rajya Sabha polls in the state.
A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta issued notice to the office of HP Assembly speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania and sought its response to the plea in four weeks.
The bench said that pending adjudication of their plea, rebel HP Congress MLAs will not be allowed to vote or participate in the proceedings of the Assembly.
"On the question of by-election on six vacant seats, we will have to examine whether the elections which have been notified by the ECI are to be stayed during the pendency of plea," the bench said.
It posted the matter for listing on May 6 and gave the rebel MLAs a week to file their rejoinder.
The filing of nominations for six vacant assembly seats starts on May 7.
The six rebels -- Sudhir Sharma, Ravi Thakur, Rajinder Rana, Inder Dutt Lakhanpal, Chetanya Sharma and Devinder Kumar Bhutto -- were disqualified on February 29, for defying a Congress whip to be present in the House and vote in favour of the Himachal Pradesh government during the cut motion and budget.
Following the disqualification of the rebels, the House's effective strength has gone down to 62 from 68, while the number of Congress MLAs has shrunk to 34 from 40.
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Man arrested with Rs 2.54-crore heroin in Mumbai
Mumbai (PTI): Police have arrested a man and seized over 500 grams of heroin worth Rs 2.54 crore in the illicit market from him in Mumbai, officials said on Friday.
The police's Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) made the drug seizure in Santacruz in the western suburbs. The operation was conducted by the Kandivali unit of the ANC on Thursday as part of a special crackdown against drug trafficking in the area, they said.
Acting on specific inputs, an ANC team conducted a raid in Santacruz (East) and intercepted a man. During a search, the team recovered 508 grams of high-grade heroin from his possession, an official said.
The seized contraband, a highly addictive, opioid drug derived from morphine, is estimated to be worth Rs 2.54 crore in the international market, he informed.
Following the seizure, a case was registered against the man under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, and he was formally placed under arrest in the early hours of Friday.
The police are currently investigating the source of the drug and trying to identify the intended recipients of the consignment, he said.
