Supreme Court Denies to Stay Disqualification of 6 Congress MLAs of Himachal Pradesh

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday refused to stay the disqualification of six Congress MLAs of the Himachal Pradesh assembly. These MLAs were expelled by speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania on February 29 on charges of disobeying the party whip.

“We will issue a notice, but we are sure we cannot stay the disqualification as they (petitioners) will not be allowed to vote or participate in the House proceedings,” a bench headed by justice Sanjiv Khanna said.

Posting the matter in the week commencing May 6, the bench, also comprising justice Dipankar Datta, said, “We are on the second part whether there should be stay on fresh elections as the petition will then become infructuous.”

The judges sought response from the secretary of the state legislative assembly. Notices were also issued to Pathania and Congress chief whip and state parliamentary affairs minister Harsh Vardhan Chauhan.

In the Rajya Sabha election, Congress suffered a setback in Himachal Pradesh as Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Harsh Mahajan defeated Singhvi.