Court gives no relief to rebel AAP MLAs

New Delhi, July 24 (IANS) Granting no relief to rebel AAP MLAs, the Delhi High Court on Wednesday dismissed their petition challenging a single bench order against the anti-defection proceedings initiated against them by the Delhi Assembly Speaker.

A Division Bench presided by Chief Justice D.N. Patel and Justice C. Harishankar refused to entertain the petition filed by rebel AAP MLAs Devendra Sehrawat and Anil Bajpai.

"The court observed that the prerogative power of the Speaker to evolve his own procedure to conduct the proceedings in the house," the court observed.

"We see no reason to entertain this plea as we find that no error has been committed by the single judge," the bench said.

"We see no reason to impose a mathematical formulae on the Speaker about what to decide first."

The court observed that it was on the wisdom and expertise of the Speaker to decide whether it will hear the preliminary objection by the rebel MLAs or the defection complaint first.

Earlier, a single judge bench of the High Court presided by Justice Vibhu Bakhru declined a plea filed by the two politicians challenging the decision to initiate the proceedings of disqualification.

The petition had sought direction to the Speaker to constitute an appropriate committee to adjudicate the anti-defection proceedings initiated against him by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

Rebel MLAs Bajpai and Sehrawat also accused Speaker Ram Niwas Goel of being a politically active person who had recently joined a protest called by AAP at Rajghat.

On June 20, AAP MLA Saurav Bhardwaj moved an anti-defection petition in the Assembly against the two MLAs for joining the BJP before the Lok Sabha elections.