Jharkhand Speaker makes MLAs wait

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Ranchi: Jharkhand Speaker Inder Singh Namdhari on Wednesday reserved his verdict after hearing the replies by MLAs Enos Ekka, Kamlesh Singh and Stephen Marandi to his disqualification notices.

"I have heard all the three petitions and reserved judgment. I will apply my conscience before delivering the judgment," Namdhari said.

Ekka, Singh, Harinarain Rai and Madhu Kora are the MLAs who withdrew support to the Arjun Munda government on September 5 reducing it to a minority in the 82-member Assembly.

S B Gagodia, lawyer for Independent Stephen Marandi pleaded for more time, but Namdhari said the time for hearing was over.

Gadodia reminded Namdhari about his earlier judgment on Marandi, absolving him of the charge of winning the 2005 assembly elections as an Independent despite representing the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha in the Rajya Sabha.

He requested the Speaker to allow time, as the Supreme Court was to hear the MLAs who have challenged his notice.

Representing the petitioners--Chandresh Oraon and Putkar Hembrom--advocate D N Gobordhan claimed that Marandi attracted the provisions of the Tenth Schedule that underlined disqualification of an Independent MLA in the event of joining a politcal party.

Contesting the argument that the Tenth Schedule was applicable only when an Independent MLA joined a registered political party, Gobardhan contended that the word 'registered' was not mentioned in the schedule.

Kamlesh Singh's advocate R K Jain argued that his client did not attract the provisions of the Tenth Schedule as NCP leader Tariq Anwar had no authority to issue the whip on March 14 last year.

He also sought to know why the issue was pending for the last eighteen months. The charge against him was that he had ignored the direction/whip of the NCP to support the shortlived Shibu Soren-led UPA government, and instead supported the Munda government to become a minister. Then he again left the NDA recently to join the UPA.

The petition against Ekka was filed last year by Jharkhand Party president N E Horo accusing the MLA of flouting the party's whip and joining the NDA government during government formation in 2005.

Ekka an Independent and Singh belonging to the NCP are two of the four ministers who resigned and withdrew support to the Arjun Munda-led NDA government, the trust vote of which is to be taken up on Thursday in the assembly.

The three MLAs had suffered a setback on September 11 when the Supreme Court, which they had approached challenging the Speaker's notice, declined to pass any order. The apex court would hear the matter on Thursday.

The three had sought a week's time to reply to the notices, but Namdhari on September 11 gave them just two days.

Governor Syed Sibte Razi had then directed that the trust vote should be taken up on or by September 15. Following this the Munda Cabinet decided to call the assembly session from September 14.

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