The Delhi High Court has overturned the suspension of seven BJP MLAs from the Delhi Legislative Assembly, which was imposed for an indefinite period. These MLAs had challenged their suspension before the High Court, which allowed their petitions and set aside the suspension. A detailed judgment is yet to be uploaded.
The suspension of these MLAs was related to a disturbance caused during an address by the LG in the Budget session of the Delhi Assembly on February 15. The High Court had reserved its order on February 27 after hearing the pleas of the MLAs.
During the hearing, the High Court had asked the privilege committee to refrain from taking any action, as the matter was referred to the committee after the suspension. The seven suspended MLAs are Vijender Gupta, Ajay Kumar Mahavar, Abhay Verma, Anil Kumar Vajpayee, OP Sharma, Mohan Singh Bisht, and Jitendra Mahajan. They were suspended for allegedly disturbing the Delhi Assembly during the LG’s address on February 15.
The counsel for the MLAs argued that the motion for suspension was unconstitutional and violated their constitutional rights. They also argued that the MLAs were punished twice for the same act of violation and that the procedures were not followed in passing the motion. The counsel further contended that the MLAs’ suspension until the disposal of the matter by the privilege committee was indefinite and violated their right to freedom of speech and expression.
The High Court’s decision to overturn the suspension means that the seven BJP MLAs can now participate in the proceedings of the Delhi Legislative Assembly.