Speaker disqualifies three defected NCP MLAs

Three seats declared vacant  Principal Correspondent Kohima, August 25 In one of the first ever political developments under the Anti-defection Law (10th Schedule of the Constitution of India), Nagaland Assembly Speaker Chotisuh Sazo has disqualified the three State unit NCP MLAs, who had declared to have merged with State unit of BJP. The disqualification order, first of its kind taken in the State after the 10th Schedule came into force, was signed by Sazo this afternoon, after more than two months of the then NCP MLAs declaring merger with the State BJP. The three MLAs include then NCP state president Imtilemba Sangtam, Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism Dr. TM Lotha and MLA Mmhonlumo Kikon. The Speaker also declared the three seats of the 12th NLA – 38-Wokha Assembly Constituency (A/C) occupied by Dr. TM Lotha; 40-Bhandari A/C of Mmhonlumo Kikon and 52-Longkhim Chare of Imtilemba Sangtam vacant consequent upon their disqualification.Citing the reasons of disqualification, the order signed by the Speaker said, “Upon inquiry as required under law, I found that their original political i.e. the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) had not merged with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on the date of their claim (16.6.14)”. On the reasons for (disqualification) order, Sazo cited that though Rule 8(7) of the Members of the NLA (Disqualification on Ground of Defection) Rules, 2003 mandates him to proceed to disqualify those who present an invalid claim of merger without further inquiry, in view of the Supreme Court’s decision that requires a Speaker to conduct an inquiry into any claim of merger, he sought to conduct an inquiry into the claim of merger of the three NCP MLAs. An excerpt from the Speaker’s order stated “Since the proposal of merger has not legitimately arisen from the NCP in accordance with Article 39 of the Constitution of NCP or in accordance with the general principles of simple majority laid down by Courts and Election Commission of India in the aforesaid cases, the claim of the three NCP MLAs presented to me in person on the 16th June, 2014 that they have merged with BJP, is invalid”. He said “the claimants (three NCP MLAs) are oblivious to the fact that the two-thirds majority prescribed in paragraph 4(2) of the tenth Schedule to the Constitution of India is not per se merger, but just a support to merger to a avoid disqualification. What is primarily to be established before me if the factum of merger in terms of paragraph 4(1) of the Tenth Schedule and in accordance with the Constitution of the respective political party or the general principles laid down by Courts and tribunals, in which the claimants have miserably failed despite opportunities given to them to do so. A case of protection from disqualification cannot be founded on the mere two-thirds majority in the Legislature party, since the merger envisaged in paragraph 4(1) is a fact and not a deeming fiction.” The Speaker also maintained that the three were given fullest opportunity to defend their case right from the day of declaring the merger till personal hearing held in the Conference Hall of the Assembly on August 6, 2014 (personal hearing), which he said the ‘claimants did not avail’. He also said that the resolution of the three NCP MLAs is not in conformity with Article 39 of the NCP constitution, which states “The Party can be dissolved or merged with any other party only if the decision to do so is taken by the meeting of the National Committee of the Party, specially called for the purpose”. Sazo also noted the failure of the claimants to produce the copy of the resolution before him and he held that the merger of NCP with the BJP had not taken place on June 16 as claimed by the three NCP MLAs. Therefore, in pursuance of the provisions of the Members of NLA (Disqualification on Ground of Defection) Rules, 2003 and provisions of the Tenth Schedule, the Speaker disqualified the three NCP MLAs while also declaring the seats occupied by them in the 12th NLA vacant. Nonetheless, talking to this correspondent at his official residence this evening, Sazo agreed that the disqualification order can be quashed by the Court. “The court has every right to quash the disqualification order if it finds not acceptable as per the Constitutional provisions,” he said. He also stated that the bye-elections to the three seats may be held along with 11-Northern Angami-II A/C, which became vacant on the election of then Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio to the Lok Sabha on May 16, 2014. Mention may be made here that the former NCP MLAs had declared merger with the BJP on June 16 and claiming to have fulfilled all criteria under the Anti-Defection Law. However, the NCP (national) president Sharad Pawar had reportedly written to the Speaker urging him not to accept the merger, but to disqualify the three defectors on grounds that no resolution had been passed by the NCP to merge with the BJP in Nagaland. They had also been suspended from the NCP. However, desperate attempts of this correspondent to take their reaction was futile, as neither Parliamentary Secretary Dr. TM Lotha nor MLA Mmhonlumo Kikon responded to the calls.