The Rajasthan high court issued Status Quo on Speaker CP Joshi’s disqualification against Sachin Pilot and 18 Congress MLAs. They skipped the CLP meetings by Congress chief whip and were given disqualification notices. Sachin and followers challenged the notice in the high court through a writ petition.
Senior counsel Harish Salve and Mukul Rohtagi appeared on behalf of the petitioners. Rajasthan high court bench including Chief Justice Indrajit Mahanty and Justice Prakash Gupta allowed the petition. The high court asked the Speaker to wait for its verdict on Friday before taking any action against Team Pilot.
The Supreme Court had already refused to stop the proceedings on the High Court verdict on Thursday. Hearing a petition filed by Rajasthan Assembly Speaker CP Joshi, the apex court said that the issues raised in the Speaker’s petition required “prolonged hearing“. And that, it involved a “larger question” related to democracy and its survival. They added the “voice of dissent” in a democracy cannot be shut down. The bench comprised Arun Mishra, B R Gavai, and Krishna Murari. The matter was fixed for hearing on July 27.
Further Developments
As soon as the news came out, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot sought an appointment with Governor Kalraj Mishra and is expected to call for an assembly session soon. Furthermore, he reportedly said that they had the majority and all Congress MLAs are united. However, Congress has only a narrow lead with just two more than the majority mark. However, if rebels escape disqualification, they can vote in the assembly and pose a serious threat to the government led by Gehlot.
Sachin had repeatedly denied Gehlot’s allegations of conspiracy with the BJP. Regardless, they argued in court that they have no intention to quit congress. At the same time, what they want is a change in leadership.
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