The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear a petition filed by 12 Bharatiya Janata Party MLAs in Maharashtra against their suspension from the state Assembly, PTI reported.
The MLAs had been suspended for a year for allegedly misbehaving with Maharashtra Assembly Speaker-in-chair Bhaskar Jadhav during the Monsoon Session in July.
The suspended MLAs are Sanjay Kute, Ashish Shelar, Abhimanyu Pawar, Girish Mahajan, Atul Bhatkalkar, Parag Alavni, Harish Pimpale, Ram Satpute, Vijay Kumar Rawal, Yogesh Sagar, Narayan Kuche and Kirtikumar Bangdia.
Ruckus had erupted in the Maharashtra Assembly in July during the introduction of a resolution to seek data from the Centre on Other Backward Classes to provide them political reservation in local bodies in the state, The Indian Express reported.
Opposition leaders claimed that they were not given enough time to speak about the resolution. The Speaker had adjourned the Assembly after an uproar. The MLAs then went to the Speaker’s cabin, where they allegedly abused and manhandled him.
The MLAs moved the Supreme Court later in July, alleging that suspending them was a “motivated attempt” to reduce Opposition numbers in the Maharashtra Assembly, Bar and Bench reported.
The lawyer representing the MLAs told the Supreme Court on Monday that the Winter Session of the Maharashtra Assembly was approaching and the petition filed by the MLAs required urgent hearing, PTI reported. The session is expected to begin on December 22.
“All right, we will give a date [for hearing],” the bench headed by Chief Justice NV Ramana said in response.
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