Legislative Assembly Speaker Rajesh Patnekar finally began hearings in the disqualification petition against ten ex-Congress MLAs and two former MGP MLAs and has reserved his orders. The sudden flip-flop comes against the backdrop of the Supreme Court directive to dispose of the matter by February 26 and it is astonishing how a decision that could change the political canvas of the State has been treated so callously and allowed to drag for 18 months.
The role of Speaker comes into sharp focus once again, and it is obvious that Patnekar hasn’t taken the court’s earlier observations on inordinate delays in such petitions seriously. Twice in the last year, the Supreme Court asked Parliament to amend the Constitution to strip Speakers of their power to adjudicate on disqualification petitions against legislators, and instead, wrest the powers on an independent tribunal. The court has times and again stressed the “reasonable period” of three months by which such petitions need to be disposed of, making an exception to only “exceptional circumstances”. It observed that a person who has incurred disqualification for defection does not deserve to be an MLA even for a single day.
It is a sad irony that court intervention is needed and the Speaker has to be directed to perform his constitutional duties. What does one make out of a disqualification petition that is gathering dust without a single hearing in a one-and-half year? If we may recall, the chief justice of India, on January 4, had orally observed that “nobody can have a vested right to delay”. Pushed against a deadline of February 26, it is vacuous to even put forth an argument that it is not possible to hear the petitions in one single day.
The Speaker is a constitutional authority empowered to hear and adjudicate on disqualification petitions against legislators based on the merits of the case. But by conceding to the pleas of respondents seeking repeated postponements, and using the pandemic period as an “exceptional circumstance”, the Speaker has only displayed his political leanings. There is no reasonable ground to justify the delay against a couple of MLAs who contracted the virus when assembly sessions and Zilla Panchayat elections were being conducted during the period.
The Speaker is the sole and final arbiter in disqualification of a political defector and has to be non-partisan in his approach. Surprisingly, defecting MLAs were allowed the liberty of submissions even on the date of hearing on Friday. In a democracy, the Speaker will be failing in his duty if he acts on the pressures and the wishes of his political party and tries to cushion those violating the Constitution.
Patnekar has reached the end of the road, finally, and probably exhausted all his options. The disqualification petitions have been heard, and a verdict could be announced before the Supreme Court takes up the matter in March. Could this be the endgame for defectors, or could they get a fresh lease of life in the BJP? Time will tell.
