Vice President has “clearly, patently erred” in accepting merger of AAP MPs with BJP

2 months ago 89

Vice President has "clearly, patently erred" in accepting merger of AAP MPs with BJP: Abhishek Manu Singhvi, to Karan Thapar for The Wire. ......................................... Abhishek Manu Singhvi, one of the foremost legal minds in the country, a Rajya Sabha MP and Congress spokesperson, has said that Vice President Radhakrishnan has “clearly, patently erred” in accepting the merger of seven Aam Aadmi Party Rajya Sabha MPs with the BJP. Dr. Singhvi says that this decision by the Vice President can be challenged in Court and it’s quite possible that it will be overturned. Dr. Singhvi points out that in accepting the merger the Vice President has ignored what Dr. Singhvi calls “the preponderance of judgements” and instead allowed himself to be guided by what Dr. Singhvi calls “an awry judgement” in the Chodankar case. As this is both a technical and very topical issue I will stop there and go no further. I think you should see this interview to hear Dr. Singhvi himself. I don’t want to misinterpret him or miscommunicate what he’s said in any paraphrase or precis. However, to help you, I will give you the main questions asked. Here they are:- 1) Let’s start with a critical fact concerning the alleged merger of seven Aam Aadmi Party Rajya Sabha MPs with the BJP. This decision was taken by the legislature wing of the Aam Aadmi Party not by the original political party itself. Am I right in saying that? 2) Let’s now come to paragraph 4 of the 10th Schedule of the constitution, which is the Anti-Defection Law. Does it explicitly state that there are two separate steps for a merger to be deemed legal and lawful? First, the original political party must merge with another party and then, separately and subsequently, two-thirds of the members of the legislature party must agree to such a merger. Am I right in saying these are two distinct steps and both are necessary for a merger to be deemed constitutional? 3) Two things follow from this and I want to put them to you. Yesterday’s Hindustan Times (27/4) says the merger must originate with “the original political party” i.e. at the organizational level and not merely within the legislature party. As the paper puts it: “Legislators cannot unilaterally declare a merger unless the political party has taken a formal decision to merge.” Is that correct? 4) Second, you cannot treat the terms original political party and legislature party as interchangeable. As the Hindustan Times puts it: “Treating the two as interchangeable would effectively allow legislators to sever ties with the party that sponsored their election whilst still claiming immunity, a result the Anti-Defection Law was designed to prevent.” 5) Now in 2023 in the Subhash Desai case the Supreme Court made a clear distinction between a political party and its legislative wing. As the Hindustan Times says: “The Court held that a legislature party cannot act independently of the political party, warning that such a disconnect would defeat the purpose of the Anti-Defection Law.” So am I right in saying in 2023 the Supreme Court upheld the interpretation of the 10th Schedule that we are presently discussing? 6) I believe there are two or three High Court judgements that have also taken the same view. I believe they are from the Bombay High Court and the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Am I right? 7) The confusion arises because in 2022 in the Chodankar case, concerning defections from Congress to BJP in Goa, the Bombay High Court upheld a merger based solely on the fact two-thirds of legislators had joined another party. Am I right in saying that this has somewhat confused the issue? Join The Wire's Youtube Membership and get exclusive content, member-only emojis, live interaction with The Wire's founders, editors and reporters and much more. Memberships to The Wire Crew start at Rs 89/month. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChWtJey46brNr7qHQpN6KLQ/join

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