Suspension of 12 Maharashtra MLAs undemocratic, says Supreme Court

Oppn says verdict 'another tight slap' on face of MVA govt

Suspending a member of the House or Legislative Assembly beyond the remainder period of ongoing session would impact the democratic setup as a whole by permitting the thin majority or coalition government to manipulate the numbers of the Opposition in an “undemocratic manner”, the Supreme Court said on Friday.
 
In its judgement delivered on the pleas filed by 12 BJP MLAs who had challenged their one-year suspension from Maharashtra Legislative Assembly for allegedly misbehaving with the presiding officer, a bench headed by Justice A M Khanwilkar observed that one­-year suspension is “worse than” expulsion, disqualification or resignation.
 
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