MP High Court Issues Notice To Speaker On Congress MLA's Plea Seeking Disqualification Of BJP MLA On Ground Of Defection

The Madhya Pradesh High Court on Friday (November 7) issued notice in a petition filed by Congress MLA Umang Singhar seeking disqualification of BJP MLA from Bina constituency, Nirmala Sapre, arguing that she stands disqualified on grounds of defection. The plea claims that Sapre, after being elected MLA from Bina in the 2023 assembly elections, had voluntarily given up her membership from the Congress party and joined the BJP, which amounted to defection under Schedule 10 of the Constitution. The plea claims that Singhar filed a representation before the Speaker of the Assembly, however the same had not been decided. The bench of Chief Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva and Justice Vinay Saraf issued notice to the State government, the Speaker (respondent no 2) of the Legislative Assembly and Nirmala Sapre (respondent no 4). Advocate General appearing for the State reiterated that, as per the law laid down by the Supreme Court, courts do not exercise the power of judicial review except in a case where the Speaker has decided on the petition. The Advocate General submitted that in the first instance, it is the absolute prerogative of the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly to decide on such a petition. He, however, said that he is not appearing for the Speaker and thus is unable to state the status of the petitioner's disqualification petition.The petition seeks that Sapre be disqualified; in the alternative, the plea seeks a direction to the Speaker to decide Singhar's pending disqualification petition within 7 days by passing a reasoned and speaking order. As an interim prayer, the plea seeks that Sapre be restricted from acting and participating as an MLA with immediate effect. On September 1, a single-judge bench of the high court had dismissed Singhar's petition against the alleged inaction of the Assembly's Speaker on adjudicating his plea to disqualify Sapre.Case Title: Umang Singhar v State [WP-36057-2025]For Petitioner: Advocates Vibhor Khandelwal and Jayesh GurnaniFor State: Advocate General Prashant Singh with Deputy Advocate General Vivek SharmaClick here to read/download the Order

MP High Court Issues Notice To Speaker On Congress MLA's Plea Seeking Disqualification Of BJP MLA On Ground Of Defection

Jayanti Pahwa

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