Why SC removes Manipur Minister?
(March, 2020)
If possible,
Answer Fast
Answers
Answer:
In a rare move, the Supreme Court Wednesday invoked its plenary powers and ordered forthwith removal of BJP lawmaker and Manipur Forest Cabinet Minister TH Shyamkumar, restraining him from entering the Assembly till further orders.
The top court rarely invokes its plenary power under Article 142 of the Constitution to remove a cabinet minister from any government.
Shyamkumar had won the Assembly polls in 2017 as a Congress candidate but later joined the BJP government. The plea of his disqualification is still pending with the Speaker.
The top court had on January 21 taken note of inordinate delays in deciding 13 pleas for disqualification of lawmakers pending since April 2017 and had asked the Manipur Assembly Speaker to decide within four weeks the plea of a Congress leader seeking disqualification of Shyamkumar.
The Speaker on Tuesday appealed to the top court for deferment of the matter till March 28 and said by that time, there would definitely be a judgment on the disqualification applications by the Speaker.
A bench of Justices R F Nariman and S Ravindra Bhat said given the extraordinary facts in the present case, “we are constrained to use our powers under Article 142 of the Constitution of India”.
“Respondent Number-3 (TH Shyamkumar) is restrained from entering the Legislative Assembly till further orders of this Court. Needless to add, he will cease to be a Minister of the Cabinet immediately,” the bench said, posting the matter for further hearing on March 30.
The top court said in its January 21 verdict, it had gone out of the way to give the Speaker a chance to perform his functions under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution of India by stating, “given the fact that such a long period had already gone by without any decision, one month should suffice for the Honourable Speaker to decide the disqualification petitions before him”.
It said after one month expired, an application was filed by the speaker requesting for eight more weeks in order to decide the cases before him.
The top court said that on March 4, when the matter was taken up for hearing, the Speaker had not pressed his application and stated that a decision would be forthcoming within 10 days from that date.
It said when the matter was taken up today, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appeared for the Speaker and sought deferment of the matter till March 28 saying that by that time, definitely, there would be a judgment on the aforesaid disqualification applications by the Speaker.
Mehta also said March 28 has been notified for pronouncement of judgment by the Speaker on the disqualification plea.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the petitioner Congress leader Keisham Meghachandra Singh, said the court should decide the disqualification pleas as even after the one month period given an application for adjournment of eight weeks has come up followed by prayer for 10 days time.
He said the court should decide the matter on Wednesday itself.
The top court on January 21, in a path breaking ruling had said Parliament should “rethink” whether the Speaker of a House should continue to have powers to disqualify lawmakers as such a functionary “belongs to a particular political party”.
Parliament may seriously consider amending the Constitution to substitute Speaker of Lok Sabha and Legislative Assemblies as arbiter of disqualification issues with “a permanent Tribunal headed by a retired Supreme Court Judge or a retired Chief Justice of a High Court” or some other mechanism to ensure swift and impartial decisions, the apex court had said.
While taking note of the role played by Speakers and inordinate delays in deciding pleas for disqualification of lawmakers, the top court had asked the Manipur Assembly Speaker to decide within four weeks the plea seeking disqualification of Shyamkumar.
“In case no decision is forthcoming even after a period of four weeks, it will be open to any party to the proceedings to apply to this Court for further directions/ reliefs in the matter,” the bench had said.
A
Explanation:
In a rare move, the Supreme Court Wednesday invoked its plenary powers and ordered forthwith removal of BJP lawmaker and Manipur Forest Cabinet Minister TH Shyamkumar, restraining him from entering the Assembly till further orders.
The top court rarely invokes its plenary power under Article 142 of the Constitution to remove a cabinet minister from any government.
Shyamkumar had won the Assembly polls in 2017 as a Congress candidate but later joined the BJP government. The plea of his disqualification is still pending with the Speaker.