HC reserves order on Bishnoi's plea

The Punjab and Haryana high court on Monday reserved its order on a petition filed by Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) chief Kuldeep Bishnoi, who is seeking the disqualification of five defector MLAs.

The Punjab and Haryana high court on Monday reserved its order on a petition filed by Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) chief Kuldeep Bishnoi, who is seeking the disqualification of five defector MLAs.

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Bishnoi challenged the validity of the assembly speaker's order dismissing disqualification petitions under the anti-defection law of five HJC MLAs, who had joined the Congress in 2011. Through the petition, he sought the disqualification of five defector MLAs - Satpal Sangwan, Vinod Bhayana, Narendra Singh, Zile Ram Sharma and Dharam Singh - with effect from November 5, 2009, when they had switched over to the Congress.

The order, under challenge by Bishnoi in his petition, was issued by the speaker on January 13, 2013, holding the merger of the two political parties (HJC and Congress) as conclusive.

Bishnoi challenged the speaker's order on the ground that it was based on "mala fide consideration" and the story of the merger of parties had been "concocted" to save the five MLAs.