SC lashes out at HC for 'tardy' handling of BSP MLA defections

New Delhi, Feb 14 (UNI) The Supreme Court today reprimanded the Allahabad High Court for its ''tardy handling'' of the case relating to the defection of 37 BSP MLAs from their original party in August, 2003.

The apex court said,''We must express our unhappiness over the tardy manner in which the matter of some consequence was dealt with by the High Court. The conduct of the High Court should not leave any room for criticism of the institution.'' The court criticised the High Court for remanding back the matter to the assembly speaker instead of deciding the validity of the MLAs breakaway group. The court also felt that the matter should have been decided expeditiously.

Earlier in the day, the apex court, while disqualifying 13 MLAs with retrospective effect from August 27, 2003 by implications also disqualified 24 others by holding that even these MLAs had failed to prove that there was a split in BSP.

The court allowed the writ petitions filed by BSP leader Swami Prasad Maurya and others and directed the 37 MLAs to bear the cost of litigation in both the High Court as well as the Supreme Court.

UNI