SC verdict tomorrow on the fate of 10 expelled MPs

New Delhi, Jan 9 (UNI) The Supreme Court will pronounce tomorrow its much-awaited verdict on the issue whether the Speaker has the power to expel a sitting member of Parliament or the legislature.

A five-judge constitution bench headed by the Chief Justice Y K Sabharwal will also decide the fate of ten members of the Lok Sabha who were expelled from the House on December 23,2005 by Speaker Somnath Chatterjee on the basis of the decision taken by the house.

The 11 MPs including the Lok Sabha members and one Rajya Sabha member were caught on camera taking money for raising questions in the house in sting operation conducted by a private tv news channel.

The petitioners Raja Ram Pal and others had challenged their expulsion on the grounds that the Speaker does not have power to expel a sitting member of the House under the Constitution of India and the word used in Article 105 of the Constitution is 'disqualify and not expel' and that none of them has been given an opportunity to explain their side of the story.

Mr Somnath Chatterjee had taken the stand that the action of the Speaker cannot be examined by the courts and hence refused to submit to the jurisdiction of the court but the court decided to examine the issue holding that there is no authentic pronouncement from the apex court till date.

The apex court had also directed the Election Commission not to hold byelections to ten Lok Sabha seats which had fallen vacant due to the expulsion of the ten MPs without prior permission of the court and byelections to these seats are yet to be held.

During marathon arguments spread over three weeks the government had taken the stand that the court can not interfere with the actions taken by the Speaker to uphold the dignity of the house when the actions of its members have brought disrepute to the house and its dignity is at stake.

Speaker enjoys certain privileges and immunity for his actions taken to regulate and conduct the proceddings of the house.

The Counsel for the petitioners had, however, pleaded that the Speaker can not expel a sitting member of the house under the Constitution and the action of the Speaker was violative of the Constitution and hence should be set aside.

The government had also taken the stand that an expelled member can recontest the election but the disqualification is for a certain period of time and hence he can not recontest the by-election.

The Apex court will set at rest the controversy which started a confrontation between the judiciary and the Speaker with Speaker declining to participate in the court proceedings saying that his action can not be subjected to judicial review or examination.

The apex court had transferred to itself all the writ petitions filed in Delhi high court and will decide all the writ petitions through a single judgment. The verdict may not be unanimous as three judges are going to deliver separate judgments tomorrow i.e.

January 10,2007.

UNI