Plea in Pinnacle court requests to bans mla’s who defect or resign from elections for five years

Amidst the political crisis unfolding in Maharashtra, an application has been filed within the Supreme Court seeking to restrain the MLAs who are disqualified or have resigned from contesting elections upto five years from the date of their resignation or disqualification.

The relief has been sought during a new application filed in an exceedingly pending writ petition preferred by Congress Leader Jaya Thakur wherein she had prayed for debarring candidates disqualified as members of the House under the Xth Schedule of the Constitution from re-contesting by-elections during the term of the House to which they were elected.

The Supreme Court had issued notice in Thakur's writ petition in January 2021. Now, within the wake of the political crisis in Maharashtra, she has moved a fresh interlocutory application within the writ petition, stating that the Central Government and also the committee of India has not to date filed their counter-affidavits within the mater though notice was issued to them on January 7, 2021.

"The political parties taking disadvantage of this case and continuously destroying the Elected Govt. in various State of our Country. Recently, 18.06.2022 to 22.06.2022 same thing are repeated in State of Maharashtra. These political parties again attempt to destroying the Democratic Fabric of our country. Therefore immediately direction of this Hon'ble Court is important as prayed during this application for direction," the appliance states.

Thakur in her application has further stated that lately there has been a concerted pan India effort by political parties to render the provisions of the Xth Schedule of  the Constitution is otiose and redundant.

Citing various instances of MLA's being disqualified or resigning in various states like Manipur, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Thakur has also contended in her application that these undemocratic practices are making a mockery of our democracy and also the Constitution.

"The results that thanks to this, people of the State are denied stability and also the Voters are denied their right to decide on and elect representatives having a standard ideology. Moreover these constant defections cause huge loss to the general public exchequer which is involved within the conduct of bye elections," application also states.

Therefore, the applicant seeks change within the present law which allows such MLAs to contest by-polls during the term of the present assembly. She cites the instance of 

Karnataka, where many MLAs who resigned in 2019 got re-elected to the identical assembly in bypolls.

The application has been drafted by Advocate Varun Thakur and has been filed by AOR Varinder Kumar Sharma.