Rajasthan Assembly Speaker CP Joshi moves Supreme Court challenging High Court's July 24 order

New Delhi: Rajasthan Assembly Speaker CP Joshi filed a petition in the Supreme Court on Wednesday (July 29) challenging the High Court's July 24 order for status quo on disqualification notice to 19 dissident Congress MLAs including dropped Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot.

The Speaker is learned to have requested the top court to rein in the "indiscipline", contending that the High Court is violating the apex court verdict in Kihito Hollohan matter.

The plea said, "The impugned order of the High Court is a direct interference in the `proceedings of the House` under Para 6(2) of the Tenth Schedule which is prohibited, under Article 212 of the Constitution." 

The apex court was also urged "to ensure that the authorities under the Constitution, including the judiciary, exercise its jurisdiction within the boundaries and function within their respective `Lakshman Rekhas` envisaged by the Constitution itself."

Citing the 13 questions put out by the High Court in its verdict, the plea said, "The ostensible 13 questions are repetitive. It is respectfully submitted that the 13 ostensible questions framed in the impugned order are already answered and part of settled law laid down by this court and on this ground too, the impugned order deserves to be set aside."

Earlier in the day, the Speaker also met Governor Kalraj Mishra amid the political turmoil in Rajasthan, which is facing a deadlock between the Raj Bhawan and the state government for calling the assembly session. 

The Governor has returned the government's proposal for the third time to call the session.

Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot also visited the Raj Bhawan and met the Governor. He is learned to have cleared another proposal to be sent to the Governor for summoning the assembly, saying the session should begin on August 14.

The new propsal now meets the 21-day notice requirement on which Governor Kalraj Mishra was insisting. The Cabinet is counting the days from July 23, when it made its first proposal. Earlier, the Gehlot government sought to convene the session from July 31. 

Governor Kalraj Mishra, however, again returned the third proposal sent by Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot to convene assembly session. 

On July 27, Mishra had said that Raj Bhavan never intended "not to call" the Assembly session asking the Ashok Gehlot government to deliberate on three points including a 21-day notice period for convening a session and maintaining social distancing norms.

He had said the statements from the state government make it clear that it wants to bring a trust vote but there is no mention of it in the proposal sent for convening the session.