Mumbai, Jan 28 (PTI) Welcoming the Supreme Court’s decision of setting aside the suspension of 12 BJP legislators from the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, senior party leader Devendra Fadnavis on Friday said the verdict is a “another tight slap” on the face of the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in the state.
The Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly also alleged that the MVA government, in which NCP and Congress also share power, was indulging in “unconstitutional, unethical, unfair, illegal and undemocratic actions”.
The NCP said the decision to suspend the 12 BJP members was taken by the then presiding officer of the House and not by the state government, while ally Shiv Sena expressed surprise over the top court “going soft” on the legislators despite their “misbehaviour”.
The Supreme Court on Friday held that the resolution suspending the 12 BJP MLAs beyond the period of the remainder of the session held in July 2021 is “unconstitutional” and “irrational”. The top court delivered its verdict on the pleas filed by the 12 legislators, who had challenged their one-year suspension from the assembly.
They were suspended on July 5 last year from after they were accused of misbehaving Bhaskar Jadhav, the then presiding officer of the House, in the Speaker’s chamber.
Reacting to the apex court’s judgement, Fadnavis said in a tweet, “Satyameva Jayate. We welcome and thank the Supreme Court for the historic decision of quashing suspension of our 12 BJP Maharashtra MLAs, who were fighting for the cause of OBCs in Maharashtra Legislative Assembly during the monsoon session.”
Apart from Ashish Shelar, the BJP’s chief whip in the Assembly, Sanjay Kute, Abhimanyu Pawar, Girish Mahajan, Atul Bhatkhalkar, Parag Alavani, Harish Pimpale, Yogesh Sagar, Jay Kumar Rawal, Narayan Kuche, Ram Satpute and Bunty Bhangdia were suspended from the assembly for one year.
Fadnavis said the SC decision will protect the democratic values and it is yet another tight slap on the face of MVA government for it’s unconstitutional, unethical, unfair, illegal and undemocratic actions and activities.
“I congratulate our BJP Maharashtra 12 MLAs for getting justice,” he added.
“Since the beginning, we were saying that it was completely unconstitutional and gross misuse of power to suspend our MLAs for such a long period to create artificial majority & that too for no valid reason & the Hon SC has upheld our stand,” the former chief minister said.
It was not only a question of these 12 MLAs, but of more than 50 lakh citizens in these 12 constituencies, he said.
Maharashtra BJP president Chandrakant Patil said the suspension of 12 MLAs was finally quashed by the Supreme Court “as expected”.
Taking to Twitter, he said, “The suspension was not at all within the framework of the Constitution. It was not in accordance with the law, rather it was arbitrary. The court has also expressed the same opinion.”
He also took a jibe at the MVA government, saying that it is now used to getting slapped by the court.
“The state government should realise that it is wrong to trample on the democratic values in such a manner. Now the question is what action MVA government will take against those who ordered unjust suspension,” he asked.
Ashish Shelar, who was amongst those suspended, said that the Supreme Court clarified that the decision taken by the Sena-NCP-Congress alliance government in Maharashtra was unconstitutional.
Speaking to reporters, he said, The SC clarified that the decision taken by the Maharashtra government was unconstitutional, illegal and irrational. This is for the first time that the apex court slammed the government.”
The complete judgement is yet to come out. However, the Supreme Court quashed the resolution passed on July 5, 2021 suspending BJP MLAs, he said.
“This is a historic decision and an eye-wash for democracy. The Maharashtra government was given a chance to correct its own mistake. During the hearing, the Supreme Court had directed the legislature to take appropriate decision in this regard. But only the wise can apprehend the meaning,” he said.
The Uddhav Thackeray-led government seems to have lost its wisdom due to its ego. It is affected by this historic decision, but this could have been averted, the BJP legislator said.
Had our application for revocation of suspension been considered during the assembly session, the Thackeray government could have avoided this situation, he added.
“But the government’s ego was at its peak. It does not seem to accept any system, be it investigating system, traditions or constitutional processes. It has become an arbitrary government,” he said.
