New Delhi: Disqualified Deputy Speaker of Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly had ‘no authority’ to set aside the Speaker’s decision of disqualifying 14 rebel Congress MLAs including him, Justice M B Lokur said on Wednesday.
Justice Lokur, who concurred with Justice J S Khehar but wrote a separate judgement, gave some different and additional reasons for arriving at the same conclusions and dealt with five questions in the verdict.
The judge, who set aside the Gauhati High Court order dismissing the petition of Speaker and others challenging the Governor’s order preponing the assembly session and the order of Deputy Speaker quashing the Speaker’s order disqualifying 14 rebel Congress MLAs, said that under the Tenth schedule of the Constitution, Deputy Speaker has no authority to tamper with the order of the Speaker.
“It is also important to note that the Deputy Speaker was himself disqualified from the membership of the Legislative Assembly by the Speaker and he could certainly not have set aside the order passed against him and in respect of which he would be the beneficiary.
“There is no doubt that the Deputy Speaker had no authority at all to set aside the decision of the Speaker passed under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution.
The fifth question is answered in the negative,” he said.
Justice Lokur gave the findings while answering the question as to “whether the Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Arunachal Pradesh was entitled at law to set aside the order of the Speaker… by which the Speaker had disqualified 14 members of the Legislative Assembly of Arunachal Pradesh (including the Deputy Speaker) under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution.” (PTI)
While allowing the appeals of Speaker Nabam Rebia and state Congress chief whip Bamang Felix, Justice Lokur said the January 13 verdict of the Gauhati High Court is set aside. ‘The modification order of December 9, 2015 passed by the Governor of Arunachal Pradesh is unconstitutional and is set aside and the order of the Deputy Speaker dated December 15, 2015, setting aside the order of the Speaker of the same date is also set aside,’ he said. (PTI)
