6 Rebel Congress MLAs Withdraw From Supreme Court Petition Filed Against Disqualification From HP Assembly

A plea by six rebel MLAs of the Congress party challenging their disqualification from the Himachal Pradesh state assembly was withdrawn yesterday from the Supreme Court.

The bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta dismissed the petition as withdrawn, with J Khanna remarking, "I knew this was going to happen".

To recap, these MLAs had rebelled against their own government led by Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu by cross-voting during the Rajya Sabha election and later 'abstaining' from the budget vote in February, setting off a constitutional crisis in the state. As a result of their endorsement of BJP candidate Harsh Mahajan, Congress leader and Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi lost the lone Rajya Sabha seat in the state despite a Congress majority in the assembly.

Initially, the bench had expressed its doubts over the maintainability of the present petition under Article 32, asking which fundamental rights of the petitioners were violated. In March, 2024 however, notice came to be issued in the matter, although stay of the disqualification was refused.

In late March, the 6 MLAs switched and joined the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP). As per the state election commission notification, the bye-polls for the 6 vacant constituency seats will be held on June 1.

Background

The disqualified Congress MLAs, including Chaitanya Sharma from the Gagret seat, Davinder Kumar Bhutto from Kutlehar, Inder Dutt Lakhanpal from Barsar, Rajinder Rana from Sujanpur, Ravi Thakur from Lahaul-Spiti, and Sudhir Sharma from Dharamshala, approached the Apex court seeking relief against their disqualification under the anti-defection law.

They challenged the decision of the Himachal Pradesh Assembly Speaker, Kuldeep Singh Pathania, who disqualified them for defying the party whip issued during the budget session.

During this session, a whip was issued by the Congress party, directing all 40 MLAs to remain present in the House to pass the cut motion and budget. Allegations were made against the six MLAs that they had defied this party whip, prompting the disqualification proceedings.

The disqualified MLAs, however, argued that the disqualification was unjust and against the principles of natural justice. They contended that their actions were a matter of conscience and not a violation of the whip. The rebel MLAs asserted that they had genuine reasons for abstaining from voting during the session.

Case Details: Chaitanya Sharma & Ors. v. Speaker, Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly & Ors. | Writ Petition (Civil) No. 156 of 2024