Expelled MPs move Delhi High Court

Two Members of Parliament (MPs), expelled from the Lok Sabha for allegedly accepting bribe for raising questions in the House, today challenged their expulsion in the Delhi High Court.

The MPs "" Narendra Singh Kushawaha of the BSP from Mirzapur, UP and Manoj Kumar of the RJD from Palamu in Jharkhand "" in their petition said the December 23, 2005 order for expulsion of 11 MPs was "illegal, arbitrary and unconstitutional"'.

According to the petition filed by the MPs through their counsel Naval Kishore Jha, the appointment of the Pawan Kumar Bansal Committee, which looked into the matter, was unjustified and the committee did not even give them a chance to redress their grievances.

The petitioners said they had been victimised by certain persons, allegedly representing the media, and thereafter punished by Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee in haste and merely on the basis of the media reports without giving due consideration to the privileges enjoyed by them as MPs.

The persons behind the sting operation had acted with ''malafide and greedy intention to earn a fast buck which was clear from the sale of the alleged footage to TV channel Aaj Tak for a declared consideration of Rs 57 lakh...," the petition said.

The MPs were entitled to defend themselves by filing a written reply to the allegations levelled against them or being represented by a counsel, the petition said. The respondents had ignored the principles of law and natural justice while constituting the committee and calling upon it to investigate the matter on the basis of the evidence furnished by the 'vested interests' who had been motivated by financial gains and cheap publicity, the petition added.

Yesterday, Rajaram Pal, the other expelled BSP MP, had challenged his expulsion before the Supreme Court.