[BSP MLA Disqualification] Plea before Supreme Court seeks to keep votes cast by 6 MLAs from Rajasthan in sealed cover

A Special Leave Petition has been filed before the Supreme Court seeking an interim order to keep the votes cast at the Rajya Sabha Election by 6 Members of the Legislative Assembly of Rajasthan in sealed cover.

The plea also assails the order of the Rajasthan High Court refusing to stay the declaration of Rajya Sabha Election results till the disposal of a PIL pertaining to the disqualification of the six MLAs in the state.

The said MLAs were originally elected as members of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and were later declared by the Speaker of Rajasthan Vidhan Sabha as members of the Indian National Congress (INC).

Filed by Advocate Hemant Nahta, the plea states that the Six MLAs of BSP have in letter & spirit committed a defection but painted it as a merger of the Bahujan Samaj Party and are being 'illegally considered' as MLAs of the Indian National Congress.

"The voters were cheated by their elected representatives and whose faith in the system has been breached by way of such a post-election summer sault....", the SLP states.

Referring to the alleged merger, the plea states that such an act constitutes a clear case of voluntarily giving up of the membership of the original political party-Bahujan Samaj Party and committing defection in terms of para 2 (1)(a) of Schedule-X ‘of the Constitution of India.

Change of party position is void ab initio, because it suffers with patent lack of jurisdiction under Schedule X of the Constitution of India as also being in direct conflict with the law laid by the Supreme Court in the matter of Rajender Singh Rana v/s. Swami Prasad Maurya, Nahta has submitted.

"If in such circumstances, the Six (6) MLAs of Bahujan Samaj Party are allowed to vote in the Assembly as MLAs of Indian National Congress, their voting and such a situation would be equal to committing and permitting an unconstitutional act and as long as such illegality continues, it will amount to putting a premium on the illegalities and permitting perpetuation of fraud on Constitution even now onwards..." the SLP adds.

The voting for the biennial election of 2022 for the Council of States from Rajasthan is scheduled for today, June 10, 2022 at Jaipur, Rajasthan.

The SLP has been drawn by Advocate Siddharth Das and filed through AOR Tatini Basu.

Case Title: Hemant Nahta vs. The Hon'ble Speaker Rajasthan Assembly and Ors.