Interim relief for Roja

Hyderabad: The High Court at Hyderabad on Thursday stayed the proceedings of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly wherein it had suspended YSR Congress MLA R K Roja for a period of one year on December 18, 2015. It also made it clear that this interim suspension of the Assembly motion is till the disposal of the writ petition filed by Roja challenging the legality of the motion.

The MLA from Nagari in Chittoor district, was suspended for a year during the winter session of the AP Assembly for allegedly using un-parliamentary and abusive language against certain members of the ruling Telugu Desam, including Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu. Justice A Ramalingeswara Rao who gave an interim order in this issue stated that the court has come to the prima facie conclusion that the motion carried out by the Assembly was contrary to Rule 340 of the Rules of the House.

The Rules of the House prescribes that a member can be “suspended from the service of the House for a period not exceeding the remainder of the session”. The judge did not agree with the argument of the Additional Advocate General of Andhra Pradesh, Dammalapati Srinivas that the action was taken in exercise of substantive power conferred under Article 194 (3) of the Constitution to the assemblies and that invoking of Rule 340 in the motion was a mistake.

The judge noted that the motion was moved by Minister for Legislative Affairs Y Ramakrishnudu, who himself was a Speaker of the House and he cannot said to be unaware of the application of the Rule. It was stated in the judgment that “in this case, the court is not concerned with the propriety of the motion but only with legality of the motion.

The motion to suspend the Member of the House beyond the session while invoking Rule 340 of the Rules is, in my opinion, prima facie, a case of substantial illegality but not a mere irregularity coming within the purview of Article 212 of the Constitution of India,” he said.

The judge also made it clear that in view of the law authoritatively laid down in Raja Ram Pal v. Hon’ble Speaker, Lok Sabha, case, this court has got the power of judicial review and it can review the motion passed by the Legislative Assembly on the limited grounds available to it. The judge noted that if the suspension of the petitioner is continued during the pendency of the writ petition, the right of her participation in Assembly proceedings would be affected and cannot be restored in the event of her success in the writ petition.

Therefore, there shall be an interim suspension of the motion to suspend the petitioner carried out on 18.12.2015 by the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly, pending disposal of the writ petition, stated the judgment. Noting that the issues with regard to the application of principles of natural justice in a case like this, whether the House possesses the power to suspend a member dehors the Rule made by it etc., have to be considered in detail in the writ petition, the judge ordered that the writ petition be posted for hearing after four weeks.

It also made it clear that this order is not an endorsement of the conduct of the petitioner on December 18, 2015. This order will not preclude the House from taking any appropriate action in pursuant to the pending privilege proceedings. Buoyed by the judgment, Roja announced that she would be attending the ongoing budget session of Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly from Friday.

She accompanied by her lawyers met the Assembly Secretary and handed over copy of the judgment. She said it was the victory of the people of her constituency. Roja is likely to seek permission to make a personal explanation over the issue on the floor of the house on Friday.