Rajasthan speaker drops Supreme Court plea against Sachin Pilot, rebel MLAs

The Rajasthan high court had on July 24 ordered status quo on the matter, admitted the writ petition by the Pilot camp and deferred its final verdict on the matter.

Rajasthan assembly Speaker CP Joshi on Monday withdrew his petition from the Supreme Court challenging a July 21 order of the high court directing him to defer disqualification proceedings against former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot and 18 Congress legislators backing him.

Sachin Pilot and 18 Congress MLAs moved the Rajasthan HC on July 16, challenging the disqualification notices issued to them by Speaker CP Joshi.(@SachinPilot/Twitter Photo)

Joshi told the three-judge bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra that Rajasthan high court passed a detailed 32-page order on July 24 and the legal issues which the Supreme Court was proposing to consider have merged with those that the state court would be considering as per July 24 order.

“So kindly permit us to withdraw this plea,” senior counsel Kapil Sibal, who was representing Joshi, said.

The bench, which also comprised justice BR Gavai and justice Krishna Murari, allowed the prayer.

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“It pains us that high courts are not following Supreme Court judgments,” Sibal said as the hearing drew to a close.

The three-judge bench was hearing Joshi’s special leave petition (SLP) related to whether courts can interfere with disqualification proceedings initiated by an assembly speaker against lawmakers even before a decision has been taken.

Pilot and 18 Congress MLAs moved the Rajasthan HC on July 16, challenging the disqualification notices issued to them by Joshi. The high court had on July 24 ordered status quo on the matter, admitted the writ petition by the Pilot camp and deferred its final verdict on the matter.

Before that, on July 22, the speaker had filed an SLP in the Supreme Court.