New Delhi: Leader of one of the factions of Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) Chirag Pawan Wednesday approached the Delhi High Court challenging the Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla's decision to recognise his uncle Pashupati Kumar Paras as the leader of the party in the House. Chirag also tweeted in Hindi saying that he has filed a petition in the Delhi high Court against the Lok Sabha Speaker's initial decision recognising party's expelled Member of Parliament Pashupati Paras Jee as the leader of the party in the House. Advocate Arvind Bajpai said he has filed the petition on behalf of Chirag Paswan and the Lok Janshakti Party challenging the Speaker's decision.
He said the review of the decision is pending with the Speaker and despite reminders no action has been taken after which they have approached the high court. The lawyer said the petition is currently under scrutiny. Paras, who was administered the oath of office as Union cabinet minister on Wednesday, has spent the larger part of his career under the shadow of his late brother Ram Vilas Paswan. The petition has sought setting aside speaker's June 14 circular showing the name of Paras as leader of Jan Lokshakti Party in the Lok Sabha. It sought direction to that a corrigendum be issued by showing the name of Chirag Paswan as leader of the party in the House.
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Change of leader in Lok Sabha is prerogative of particular party and in the present case, Article 26 of the Constitution of the petitioner no. 2 (party) provide that central parliamentary board will decide who would be leader, chief whip, etc. in the house or in assembly, the plea said. It added, the entire action of respondent no. 1 is contrary to rules of lok Sabha, procedure, practice, provision of constitution of petitioner no. 2, and oppose to principle of natural justice. Paras, who previously headed Lok Janshakti Party's Bihar unit and is currently the national president of its breakaway faction, began his innings in 1978 as a Janata Party MLA from Alauli in his native Khagaria district, a seat formerly represented by the late Ram Vilas Paswan. A cornered Chirag, who has challenged his uncle's political coup before the Election Commission, seemed to have sensed the writing on the wall when at a press conference in Patna on Tuesday he declared he had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting him not to induct Paras on the LJP quota.
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PTI
