No Material To Show Congress MLA Nirmala Sapre Joined BJP: MP High Court Refuses To Expedite Defection Proceedings
The Madhya Pradesh High Court has dismissed a petition filed by Congress MLA Umang Singhar seeking adjudication of his application before the Speaker for disqualification of MLA from Bina constituency, Nirmala Sapre, on the alleged ground that she stands disqualified due to defection. [2026 LiveLaw (MP) 234]The division bench of Acting Chief Justice Vivek Rusia and Justice Pradeep Mittal...
The Madhya Pradesh High Court has dismissed a petition filed by Congress MLA Umang Singhar seeking adjudication of his application before the Speaker for disqualification of MLA from Bina constituency, Nirmala Sapre, on the alleged ground that she stands disqualified due to defection. [2026 LiveLaw (MP) 234]
The division bench of Acting Chief Justice Vivek Rusia and Justice Pradeep Mittal took note of the arguments advanced by Sapre (respondent no.4), stating that she had neither resigned from INC nor joined BJP and that she was being dragged into a baseless litigation before the High Court and Speaker of the Legislative Assembly.
Therefore, the bench directed:
"No documents have been filed to show that respondent no. 4 has been expelled from INC, and she has been given membership by the BJP. In the absence of these crucial documents and the statement made by the learned senior counsel appearing for respondent no.4, we do not find any urgency in this matter. The proceedings are going on, and there is substantial development in it. In view of the categorical statement made by the respondent no.4, and in the absence of any urgency in this matter, the High Court should not issue directions or a writ to the respondent/Hon'ble Speaker to decide the application expeditiously. Accordingly, these petitions are dismissed. No order as to cost".
The bench also dismissed another writ petition, no. 38278 of 2025 filed by Pradeep Rai on similar grounds.
Per Umang's plea, Sapre had voluntarily given up her membership from the Indian Congress Party after being elected as MLA from Bina constituency in the 2023 assembly elections. It was claimed that Sapre later joined the BJP, leading to defection under Schedule 10 of the Constitution. Umang had submitted an application before the Speaker, but the same has not been decided even after a considerable period of time has passed.
In November 2025, the then Chief Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva and Justice Vinay Saraf had earlier issued notice to the State government, the Speaker (respondent no 2) of the Legislative Assembly and Nirmala Sapre (respondent no 4).
In the last hearing of June 18, the counsel for Singhar argued that they only seek a limited prayer that the Speaker be directed to decide his application within 90 days.
The Advocate General appearing for the State, however, argued that the Speaker had taken cognisance of the application and is expected to record the evidence on June 30, 2026. He further remarked that Singhar was trying to "unnecessarily politicise the issue".
Case Title: Umang Singhar v State [WP-36057-2025]
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (MP) 234
For Petitioner: Advocates Vibhor Khandelwal and Jayesh Gurnani
For State: Advocate General Prashant Singh with Deputy Advocate General Vivek Sharma