A dozen legislators of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from Maharashtra, who, earlier this month, were suspended from the state assembly for a year for allegedly using abusive language with the presiding officer, on Thursday moved the Supreme Court challenging their suspension, according to news agency PTI.
Advocate Abhikalp Pratap Singh, who filed a petition in the top court on behalf of the 12 MLAs, said they have challenged the resolution passed by the assembly suspending them for over a year. The suspended members are: Ashish Shelar, Sanjay Kute, Abhimanyu Pawar, Girish Mahajan, Atul Bhatkalkar, Harish Pimpale, Yogesh Sagar, Jay Kumar Rawat, Parag Alavani, Narayan Kuche, Ram Satpute and Bunty Bhangadia.
The alleged misbehaviour took place on July 5, the first day of a two-day monsoon session of the assembly.
The motion to suspend these assembly members was moved the same day by state parliamentary affairs minister Anil Parab, and was passed by a voice vote. Reacting to the proposal, BJP leader and former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had admitted “objectionable” language was used against the presiding officer, Bhaskar Jadhav, though he also denied use of any “abusive” language.
Fadnavis, the leader of the opposition in the Maharashtra assembly, had further described the suspension as a move to “reduce the number of opposition legislators” in the house, adding that the MLAs had apologised to Jadhav for their “unruly” behaviour.
Meanwhile, describing his experience as a “black day,” Jadhav had accused the BJP legislators of cornering him in his cabin and using abusive language against him. Jadhav had also denied BJP’s allegations of making “uncharitable” remarks, adding he was ready to face any punishment if this was proven true.
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