Only Parliament can frame law for timely disposal of disqualification petitions by Speaker: SC
New Delhi: The Supreme Court Thursday said it is for the legislature to frame law for timely disposal of disqualification petitions by the Speaker or Chairman of the House under the tenth schedule of the Constitution.
A bench of Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justices A S Bopanna and Hrishikesh Roy said, How can we frame law? It's all a matter of Parliament.
The top court was hearing a plea filed by West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee member Ranajit Mukherjee who has sought directions to the Centre for framing of guidelines for Speakers for timely disposal of disqualification petitions.
During the hearing, advocate Abhishek Jebaraj said the plea has been filed for framing of guidelines for deciding disqualification petitions within a fixed time frame.
We want a fixed time frame be fixed as Speakers have been sitting over disqualification petitions and are not taking timely decisions under the tenth schedule, he said.
CJI Ramana said, I have already expressed my opinion in the Karnataka MLA case. This issue was raised in that case also and senior advocate Kapil Sibal had advanced his arguments on the same line. We have left the decision to be taken by the Parliament .
The bench asked the petitioner's counsel whether have read the judgement. Jebaraj said that he has not gone through the verdict.
You read the verdict and then come back. We will hear the matter after two weeks, the bench said.
On November 13, 2019, while dealing with the issue of disqualification of MLAs, the top court said the Speaker does not have the power to indicate as to how long a legislator would be disqualified or to bar him from contesting elections.
It was dealing with a decision of the Speaker by which MLAs were disqualified and barred from contesting any election to the current Assembly which included a by-election to be held for 15 seats in the state.
The top court was referring to the then Karnataka Assembly Speaker R Ramesh Kumar's decision to disqualify 17 legislators till the end of the current 15th Legislative Assembly's term in 2023.
While the top court had upheld the disqualification, it had said, "...it is clear that the Speaker, in exercise of his powers under the Tenth Schedule, does not have the power to either indicate the period for which a person is disqualified, nor to bar someone from contesting elections".
The apex court had said that the role of the speaker was critical in maintaining the balance between democratic values and Constitutional considerations, but "there is a growing trend of Speakers acting against the constitutional duty of being neutral".
The Constitutional responsibility endowed upon the Speaker has to be scrupulously followed and his political affiliations cannot come in the way of adjudication, it had said.
Additionally, political parties are indulging in horse trading and corrupt practices, due to which the citizens are denied stable governments, it had said.
"In these circumstances, the Parliament is required to reconsider strengthening certain aspects of the Tenth Schedule, so that such undemocratic practices are discouraged," the top court had said.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Marxism will remain relevant despite Left electoral's losses, says general secretary M A Baby
New Delhi (PTI): CPI(M) General Secretary M A Baby on Thursday asserted that the Left movement would remain relevant despite not being in power in any state, saying the ideology would continue to endure as long as social and economic inequalities persist.
Hitting back at BJP leader Rajeev Chandrasekhar over his reported remarks that Marxism had become irrelevant, Baby, in an interview with PTI Videos, said, "So long as there is division in society, so long as there is exploitation of the majority of workers, peasants and ordinary masses by a handful of billionaires, Marxism will remain relevant."
"That perhaps Mr Rajeev Chandrasekhar may not be able to understand, but this is the fact of the matter," he said.
Baby acknowledged that the CPI(M)-led Left was currently without an elected government in any state, but maintained that electoral setbacks would not diminish the movement's role.
"We may not have an elected government in any state. There were occasions when we didn't have a government. But the red flag and the commitment to organise and struggle for the rights of the dispossessed, marginalised and exploited will always be upheld by CPI(M) and the Left movement," he said.
He said the Left continued to enjoy support among workers, peasants, agricultural labourers, youth, students and women, and argued that the movement remained necessary because "oppression and assault" continued in society.
"So long as such problems exist in society, the red flag and the working class movement will continue to work among the masses," the Left leader said.
Exuding confidence on the Left's revival, Baby said the party would reflect on the reasons behind its electoral loss.
"We may be rejected in one election, but we will stage our comeback by understanding what went wrong with us," he said, adding, "We will listen to people and we will come back with higher strength."
Baby also criticised the Congress over reported factional tensions in Kerala after the Congress-led United Democratic Front's victory in the state.
"The way they are behaving is being watched by the people of Kerala," he said, referring to infighting within the Congress.
"Those who have given a massive majority to Congress and UDF would be watching all this," he added, while urging party leaders to "settle the problem in an amicable, democratic manner".
Referring to West Bengal, Baby alleged that violence had escalated following the BJP's victory in the state assembly polls.
"It is quite unfortunate that the moment BJP snatched a massive victory in West Bengal, violence has also started on a big scale," he said.
He also accused the Trinamool Congress of being "notorious for violent activities" and alleged that the "RSS-controlled BJP" had "unleashed violence in many places" after the election results.
"This is not good for Bengal, not good for the country. We wish and hope that normalcy would be restored as soon as possible," he said.
Baby said the CPI(M) and the Left in West Bengal would continue efforts to "pacify people" and avoid violence and confrontation.
Asked about former Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan not reacting publicly to the election results, Baby said Vijayan would respond "at an appropriate time".
