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Hisar MP moves court against Hooda, 3 MLAs
Hisar MP and Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) chief Kuldeep Bishnoi on Monday moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court seeking the initiation of contempt proceedings against Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and three out of five ‘unattached’ MLAs, and seeking removal of the three Ministers.
Bishnoi, through counsel Satya Pal Jain, filed two petitions. Where the first petition was seeking the contempt proceedings against Hooda and three legislators, another sought the removal of MLAs from their current position.
The three MLAs include Health and Medical Education Minister Narender Singh, Cooperation and Housing Minister Satpal Sangwan, and also Chief Parliamentary Secretary for Power, Jail and Law Vinod Bhayana.
Bishnoi, via his pleas, is seeking contempt proceedings due to non-implementation of the High Court orders in the defection case. It contended that till the decision on the disqualification petition pending against them, the Mnisters cannot hold any office as per HC orders, and till date they have not resigned from their offices, which amounts to contempt of court proceedings.
The Court’s Division Bench, in its order dated December 20, had made it clear that five ‘defector’ MLAs will not hold any office till their disqualification petitions were decided. The Bench had also declared them as “unattached members of the Legislative Assembly”.
In another petition against the State of Haryana and Hooda, Bishnoi has contended that these MLAs have no authority to continue in their offices that they are holding right now, and they should be removed from the posts at the earliest.
As the High Court is undergoing vacations, the petition was placed before the Vacation Bench, headed by Justice Augustine George Masih. Hearing the plea, Justice Masih simply adjourned the matter for the first working day after winter vacations -January 2, next.
The High Court, in its December 20 orders, had set a four-month deadline for the Haryana Vidhan Sabha Speaker to decide upon the Bishnoi’s plea in the defection matter. The five MLAs include Satpal Sangwan, Vinod Bhayana, Narendra Singh, Zile Ram Sharma and Dharam Singh, who defected from Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) to the Congress in 2009.
The Bench had ruled that the MLAs “would not be deemed to be members of the INC party, nor that of HJC (BL), till the decision of disqualification petitions. However, they would continue to be regarded as unattached members of the Legislative Assembly for the purposes of attending the session and for no other purpose.”
“They shall also not hold any office till the decision of disqualification petitions. The Speaker shall allot them a separate set of seats in the House. However, their status shall be subject to the final decision of the Speaker in disqualification petitions, which are pending before him,” the Bench had added.
Going into the background, the general election to Haryana Vidhan Sabha was held in October 2009, and six HJC members were elected. In November 2009, the five members submitted applications to the Speaker saying the “legislators of Haryana Janhit Congress have decided to merge the party with the Indian National Congress”.
On the same day, the Speaker without notice to the HJC president, passed two orders accepting the alleged merger.
Hisar MP and Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) chief Kuldeep Bishnoi on Monday moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court seeking the initiation of contempt proceedings against Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and three out of five ‘unattached’ MLAs, and seeking removal of the three Ministers.
Bishnoi, through counsel Satya Pal Jain, filed two petitions. Where the first petition was seeking the contempt proceedings against Hooda and three legislators, another sought the removal of MLAs from their current position.
The three MLAs include Health and Medical Education Minister Narender Singh, Cooperation and Housing Minister Satpal Sangwan, and also Chief Parliamentary Secretary for Power, Jail and Law Vinod Bhayana.
Bishnoi, via his pleas, is seeking contempt proceedings due to non-implementation of the High Court orders in the defection case. It contended that till the decision on the disqualification petition pending against them, the Mnisters cannot hold any office as per HC orders, and till date they have not resigned from their offices, which amounts to contempt of court proceedings.
The Court’s Division Bench, in its order dated December 20, had made it clear that five ‘defector’ MLAs will not hold any office till their disqualification petitions were decided. The Bench had also declared them as “unattached members of the Legislative Assembly”.
In another petition against the State of Haryana and Hooda, Bishnoi has contended that these MLAs have no authority to continue in their offices that they are holding right now, and they should be removed from the posts at the earliest.
As the High Court is undergoing vacations, the petition was placed before the Vacation Bench, headed by Justice Augustine George Masih. Hearing the plea, Justice Masih simply adjourned the matter for the first working day after winter vacations -January 2, next.
The High Court, in its December 20 orders, had set a four-month deadline for the Haryana Vidhan Sabha Speaker to decide upon the Bishnoi’s plea in the defection matter. The five MLAs include Satpal Sangwan, Vinod Bhayana, Narendra Singh, Zile Ram Sharma and Dharam Singh, who defected from Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) to the Congress in 2009.
The Bench had ruled that the MLAs “would not be deemed to be members of the INC party, nor that of HJC (BL), till the decision of disqualification petitions. However, they would continue to be regarded as unattached members of the Legislative Assembly for the purposes of attending the session and for no other purpose.”
“They shall also not hold any office till the decision of disqualification petitions. The Speaker shall allot them a separate set of seats in the House. However, their status shall be subject to the final decision of the Speaker in disqualification petitions, which are pending before him,” the Bench had added.
Going into the background, the general election to Haryana Vidhan Sabha was held in October 2009, and six HJC members were elected. In November 2009, the five members submitted applications to the Speaker saying the “legislators of Haryana Janhit Congress have decided to merge the party with the Indian National Congress”.
On the same day, the Speaker without notice to the HJC president, passed two orders accepting the alleged merger.
