Speaker disqualifies Manipur MLA from Assembly membership

Manipur Speaker Y Khemchand Singh

disqualified Congress MLA turned BJP lawmaker Thounaojam Shyamkumar from the state Assembly on Saturday, almost three years after the member's disqualification was sought under the anti-defection law.

Shyamkumar, who was removed from the state cabinet by the Supreme Court on March 18, had offered to resign from the Assembly on Thursday, but the speaker did not accept it.

On Saturday, pronouncing his judgement, Khemchand said Shyamkumar "ceases to be a member of the Manipur Legislative Assembly with immediate effect till the expiry of the term of this 11th Legislative Assembly of Manipur".

Shyamkumar's constituency, Andro, is now lying vacant, Assembly Secretary M Ramani Devi said in a notification following his disqualification.

 

Governor Najma Heptulla on Saturday accepted the resignation of Shyamkumar as the minister for housing and urban development, town planning, forest and environment, horticulture and soil conservation, as per the recommendation of Chief Minister N Biren Singh, Raj Bhavan sources said.

The polls for 60 seats of the Manipur Assembly were held in March 2017 in which the Congress emerged as the single largest party with 28 seats and BJP came second with 21.

However, a BJP-led government was sworn in and Shyamkumar, a Congress MLA, switched side and became a minister in the state government leading to the filing of several pleas in April 2017 with Speaker seeking his disqualification under the anti-defection law.

The top court had on January 21 taken note of inordinate delay 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.

However, the speaker on March 17 appealed to the apex court for deferment of the matter till March 28 and said that by that time, there would definitely be a judgment on the disqualification applications by the speaker.

Then, in a rare move, the Supreme Court on March 18 invoked its plenary powers under Article 142 of the Constitution and ordered forthwith removal of Shyamkumar.

In a path-breaking ruling, the top court had also 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".