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New Delhi, 23 February (HS). The Delhi Assembly has said that the ongoing proceedings against the seven suspended BJP MLAs will end without any delay and their suspension does not amount to silencing the voice of dissent. Delhi Assembly said these things in Delhi High Court on Friday. The next hearing in the case will be on February 26.
During the hearing today, advocate Sudhir Nandrajog, appearing for the Delhi Assembly, told the bench of Justice Subramaniam Prasad that the suspension of the MLAs is a process of self-discipline against the misbehavior of the opposition MLAs. Nandrajog, opposing the petition filed by seven MLAs, said that the Assembly uses discretion to maintain its dignity. He said that when the MLAs wrote a letter to the Lieutenant Governor apologizing, they should also write a similar letter to the Assembly. Then the court asked lawyer Jayant Mehta, appearing on behalf of the MLAs, to resolve the matter and write a letter to the Assembly respectfully.
During the hearing, Nandrajog said that the suspended MLAs have violated the model code of conduct. He said that the suspension of MLAs should not be seen as a political act of Aam Aadmi Party's majority. He said that opposition leaders are equally guilty in this matter but they were not suspended. If the voice of dissent had to be silenced, the leader of the opposition would also have been suspended. Nandrajog said that the Privileges Committee of the Assembly has not taken any action yet. This matter is being delayed because the matter is pending in the court. The Privileges Committee does not intend to delay. The views of these MLAs will be heard before reaching any final decision.
On February 22, the Delhi High Court had asked the Privilege Committee of the Delhi Assembly to postpone the action against the seven suspended BJP MLAs. The court had said that since this matter is pending in the court, the Privileges Committee should not continue the proceedings. During the hearing, lawyer Jayant Mehta, appearing for the BJP MLAs, had said that the suspended MLAs had met the Speaker of the Assembly on February 21. After this order of the court, these MLAs met the Speaker. On February 21, it was said on behalf of the seven suspended MLAs that the MLAs had met the Lieutenant Governor and apologized.
Let us tell you that on January 20, the court had asked the BJP MLAs whether they could meet the Speaker of the Assembly and apologize to the Lieutenant Governor. During the hearing, the Assembly Speaker had suggested that the dispute could be resolved if the BJP MLA met him and apologized to the Lieutenant Governor. On January 19, lawyer Jayant Mehta, on behalf of these MLAs, had said that the Supreme Court has already said that you cannot keep anyone suspended indefinitely. Jayant Mehta had said that on the first incident, an MLA can be given a maximum punishment of three days and on the second occasion, a maximum punishment of seven days can be given. This is the first punishment for these MLAs in this case, hence they cannot be punished for more than three days.
In fact, on February 15, seven BJP MLAs were suspended for allegedly creating obstruction during Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena's address in the Delhi Assembly. AAP MLA Dilip Pandey proposed suspension of all seven MLAs in the Assembly, which was passed. Delhi Assembly Speaker Ramniwas Goyal handed over the matter of obstruction by the MLAs to the Privileges Committee. The seven MLAs who were suspended include Mohan Singh Bisht, Ajay Mahawar, OP Sharma, Abhay Verma, Anil Vajpayee, Jitendra Mahajan and Vijendra Gupta.