Rajasthan Crisis: The Sachin pilot camp challenged their disqualification notices in the High Court.
New Delhi:
Sachin Pilot and other Congressional rebel leaders can find out today whether they can be disqualified by the President as the High Court of Rajasthan delivers its verdict on their petition a day after the Supreme Court said the “voice dissent “could not be suppressed in a democracy. The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to prevent the High Court from delivering a verdict that could impact the uprising congressional government in Rajasthan. But in a twist that may delay the verdict, the Pilot team has asked the High Court to make the center a part in the case. The rebels want the center to determine whether the anti-defection law applies to their case. Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said yesterday he was confident in his majority and that an assembly session would be called “very soon”.
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The Rajasthan High Court will rule on the petition of 19 rebel lawmakers, including Sachin Pilot, challenging disqualification notices served on them by President CP Joshi last week after skipping two meetings called by the chief minister. The court can make the center a party to the case and seek its opinion in deciding the validity of the anti-defection law in the case of the rebels.
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The High Court had asked the President to postpone any action against the rebels until his verdict. The President challenged this request in the Supreme Court, arguing that no court had jurisdiction in this case and that it had the power to serve notices.
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The Supreme Court, which heard the case by video conference, said the issues raised in the President’s petition required an “extended hearing” as it involved a “larger issue” related to democracy and how it will survive. . But the court said the High Court’s decision would be subject to its final decision.
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Hours after the Pilot team scored in the Supreme Court, Ashok Gehlot told reporters that an assembly session would soon be called and he had a majority. He also met Governor Kalraj Mishra for the third time since the outbreak of the rebel crisis.
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“We will convene the session of the assembly soon. We have a majority. All members of Congress are united,” the chief minister told reporters, reflecting Congress’ strategy of passing a ground test without losing more members. for the benefit of the rebel camp.
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If the rebels win their case, they can vote in the assembly and pose a serious threat to Mr. Gehlot’s government. If they don’t, their disqualification will help the Chief Minister by lowering the majority score.
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Congress has a small lead over the opposition and has only two more than the 101 majority in Rajasthan’s 200-member assembly. Team Pilot has 19 MPs and the BJP has 72. Including small parties and independent MPs, the opposition currently has 97.
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Mr Gehlot said he expected some rebels to return. “Some have been held hostage. Bouncers have been hired to guard them. They are calling us. We hope they will vote with us. We have the full majority and with that majority we will go home,” he said. -he says.
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Mr Pilot has flatly denied the allegation by his former boss Mr Gehlot that he was conspiring with the BJP to bring down the Congressional government in which he was chief deputy minister until his sacking last week. He and other rebels argued in court that they had no intention of leaving Congress; they just want a change of direction.
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The Rajasthan police special operations group, tasked by Mr. Gehlot with investigating what he calls the “horse trade” of MPs, tried to track down two rebel MPs in Mr. Pilot’s camp. Congress alleges that these MPs were caught making audio deals with BJP Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat.
