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BSP defection case referred to five-judge bench

Chief Justice Madan Mohan Punchhi today referred to a five-member constitution bench the issue of disqualification of 12 "rebel" Bahujan Samaj Party legislators who voted for the Kalyan Singh government in Uttar Pradesh in October 1997.

The question of disqualification was raised in a special leave petition filed by former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati against the verdict of Speaker Kesari Nath Tripathi putting his seal of approval on the split in the BSP.

The Chief Justice made the reference today in view of the conflicting verdicts of the two judges on the division bench that heard the petition.

Justice K T Thomas allowed Mayawati's appeal and held that the 12 BSP legislators were disqualified under Schedule X of the Constitution since they did not form one-third of the total number of BSP legislators in the house during the vote.

But Justice M Srinivasan dismissed the appeal and upheld the speaker's verdict.

Mayawati had argued that since the 12 legislators who voted in favour of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition government did not constitute one-third of the total 67 MLAs of the BSP, their membership of the assembly stood cancelled under the Anti-Defection Act.

If the MLAs are disqualified, their votes in favour of the Kalyan Singh government will become invalid, and the BJP government will be reduced to a minority in the 425-member assembly.

UNI

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