SHILLONG: A day after the Supreme Court on Tuesday asked Parliament to consider amending the Constitution to strip Speakers of their exclusive power to decide disputes relating to disqualification of MPs and MLAs under the anti-defection law, two former state Speakers said that the issue had been discussed in the Tenth Schedule.
Former Speaker of the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly and nominated MDC , Bindo M Lanong, said that Tenth Schedule to the Constitution is already in operation.
He said that the Supreme Court should not have said anything on the matter now as the Tenth Schedule came into effect in 1985.
He also said that the KHADC is right now in the process of amending laws under which a person cannot hold dual posts and has to resign from one.
Another former Speaker and incumbent MLA of Nongthymmai, Charles Pyngrope, said the disqualification of MLAs and MPs is as per the anti-defection law and the rules are very clear.
He, however, said that in a democracy, the disqualification of MPs and MLAs depends on the Speaker.
Though the Speaker is elected by the House, he or she is invariably from the ruling party and it is taken for granted that the decision of the Speaker will be partisan. Hence the Supreme Court is of the view that there should be an independent authority to decide on the fate of disqualification of MLAs and MPs.
It may be mentioned that the suggestion for devising an independent mechanism to deal with disqualification pleas against lawmakers came in a judgment by which the top court asked the Manipur Assembly Speaker to decide within four weeks the plea of a Congress leader seeking disqualification of BJP lawmaker and Manipur Forest Minister Th Shyamkumar.
The BJP minister had originally won the assembly election on a Congress ticket. This led to filing of the plea seeking his disqualification.
Another former Speaker, AT Mondal, described it as a good move by the Supreme Court as matters pertaining to disqualification of MPs/MLAs should be decided early.
