Disqualification petition against Marandi rejected

The speaker said the case of Marandi in no way fell under the 10th schedule for disqualification, as he had not joined any political party after election as independent.

MJharkhand Speaker Inder Singh Namdhari on Thursday rejected two separate petitions seeking disqualification of Independent MLA Stephen Marandi.

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The speaker said the case of Marandi in no way fell under the 10th schedule for disqualification, as he had not joined any political party after election as independent.

The petitioners argued that Marandi attracted disqualification, as his case was identical to that of former member of Bihar Legislative Council Mahachandra Singh.

Singh had been disqualified by the then BLC chairman for being elected on a Congress ticket as MLC and later contesting Lok Sabha polls as Independent and he did not get any relief from the Supreme Court either.

The petitioners claimed, Marandi's status at the time of nomination, as independent candidate for the assembly election was similar as he was a Rajya Sabha member on a JMM ticket.

Marandi had contested the assembly elections as independent candidate after he fell out with JMM chief Shibu Soren over ticket distribution. He later resigned from the Rajya Sabha after winning the Dumka assembly seat.