SC sets aside suspension of 12 BJP MLAs from Maharashtra Assembly

The Supreme Court today set aside the one-year suspension of the 12 Maharashtra Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs from the state legislative Assembly, saying the decision was arbitrary, unconstitutional, and

The Supreme Court today set aside the one-year suspension of the 12 Maharashtra Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs from the state legislative Assembly, saying the decision was arbitrary, unconstitutional, and illegal.

The MLAs cannot be suspended beyond the session, said a bench led by Justice A M Khanwilkar.

The court reinstated the resolutions, ruling that they are malice in the eyes of law, ineffective, and beyond the Assembly’s powers.

On July 5, 2021, the state government suspended the 12 MLAs — Abhimanyu Pawar, Sanjay Kute, Girish Mahajan, Ashish Shelar, Atul Bhatkhalkar, Yogesh Sagar, Parag Alavani, Jay Kumar Rawat, Narayan Kuche, Harish Pimpale, Ram Satpute, and Bunty Bhangdia — for “misbehaving” with presiding officer Bhaskar Jadhav in the Speaker’s chamber.

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The apex court delivered its verdict on the pleas by the 12 BJP MLAs, who had challenged their one-year suspension from the state assembly for allegedly misbehaving with the presiding officer.

The top court said that the petitioners are entitled to all consequential benefits of being members of the legislative assembly on and after the expiry of the period of the remainder of the session in July 2021.

The MLAs had then filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court last year against the Maharashtra legislative assembly and the state of Maharashtra asking for the suspension to be quashed.

Meanwhile, former Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis welcome the Supreme Court judgment and said that an unconstitutional move has been rectified.

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