BJP MLA Vijender Gupta Moves High Court Against One Year Suspension From Delhi Assembly

BJP MLA Vijender Gupta has approached the Delhi High Court challenging the motion passed by Delhi Legislative Assembly suspending him from attending the sittings of the House for one year till the next Budget Session.

A division bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Sachin Datta allowed urgent listing of the petition for tomorrow.

The matter was mentioned by Senior Advocate Jayant Mehta.

“This is about the sitting MLA who has been disqualified from attending the house for one year which is in the teeth of the Supreme Court judgment as well as the Rules of the House... Under Article 194, there is an indefensible right to participate in the proceedings,” Mehta said.

The plea has been moved through Advocates Pavan Narang, Neeraj and Satya Ranjan Swain.

It has been submitted that the order passed by the Speaker of Delhi Assembly is unjust, unfair and unreasonable. The petition states that the order is non est and violates the “Rules of Procedure & Conduct of Business, Legislative Assembly of National Capital Territory of Delhi.”

“…the impugned action of the Hon'ble Speaker in permitting a ruling party MLA to move and proceed with the Motion to seek suspension of the Petitioner from the House for a period of one year does not come within the definition of irregular proceedings' but in fact is a classic case of being categorized as 'gross illegal' and "unconstitutional' but also contravention / violation of fundamental rights of the Petitioner under Articles 14 and 19 of the Constitution of India,” the plea states.

The plea seeks a direction to revoke Gupta’s suspension with immediate effect and to allow him to attend the Assembly and exercise his rights and privileges in the capacity as MLA.

Title: VIJENDER GUPTA v. LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF THE NATIONAL CAPITAL TERRITORY OF DELHI THROUGH SECRETARY & ANR.