SC sets aside Manipur Speaker’s decision to disqualify three MLAs

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 8

The Supreme Court on Wednesday set aside Manipur Assembly Speaker’s order disqualifying three Congress MLAs for allegedly defecting to the BJP and remanded the disqualification petitions to Speaker Y Khemchand Singh to decide them afresh.

The order came from a Bench led by Justice UU Lalit on a petition filed by the three MLAs — Kshetrimayum Biren Singh, Yengkhom Surchandra Singh and Sanasam Bira Singh — challenging the Manipur HC’s June 2 order upholding the Speaker’s decision to disqualify them.

Elected to the Manipur Assembly in 2017 on Congress tickets, the three MLAs had allegedly switched over to the BJP to strengthen the coalition government led by N Biren Singh.

The Speaker had allowed the disqualification petitions on June 18, 2020, by concluding that the three MLAs had defected to the BJP on the basis of their conduct and participation in BJP events.

The High Court had ruled that the Speaker’s decisions were in accordance with the provisions of the tenth schedule of the Constitution.

Proceedings against two scribes stayed

The SC on Wednesday stayed criminal proceedings against two journalists working for HW News Network booked by the Tripura Police for their alleged provocative reports on the recent communal violence in the state.