Rajasthan Speaker to move Supreme Court over HC 'direction'
Rajasthan Assembly Speaker on Wednesday said he will move the Supreme Court, a day after receiving a direction from the high court to defer action on the disqualification notices sent to dissident Congress MLAs.
"I have asked my counsel to file an SLP in Supreme Court," he said, adding that "Speaker's responsibilities are well defined by the Supreme Court & Constitution. As Speaker I got an application & to seek info on it, I issued show-cause notice. If show cause notice will not be issued by authority, then what is the work of authority."
He said that the rebels of Congress party are trying to circumvent norms, while the right to enforce law lies with the speaker.
"For the first time, the court is intervening in the Speaker's decision, this seems to be a threat to parliamentary democracy. Given the situation, It has become more important to respect constitutional authority," he said.
Joshi also said that the attempts of the rebels are a threat to democracy.
"These delaying tactics are a threat to democracy. We must uphold the dignity of the state Assembly."
He went on to say, "I respect the court's judgement, whatever it may be. But my respect does not mean I approve of different departments encroaching each other's roles."
The High Court had on Tuesday deferred its order till Friday on a petition filed by Sachin Pilot and 18 other MLAs, challenging the notices sent to them. It asked the Speaker also to put his next move on hold till then.
The Speaker's counsel had twice before agreed to the court's request to extend the deadline for receiving replies from the MLAs to the show cause notices.
On Tuesday, the court made a similar request as the proceedings did not get over by the end of the day and were put off till Friday.
The problem appears to have arisen after the court recorded this in writing, adding that it has directed accordingly.
