SC: Assembly’s remaining tenure no ground to let defection petitions drag

The Supreme Court on Wednesday held that pleas under the anti-defection law must be dealt with expeditiously and that high courts should not deny directions to speakers merely because of the remaining tenure of the legislative assembly.

Directing the Madhya Pradesh assembly speaker to decide within two months a pending disqualification petition against Congress MLA Nirmala Sapre, the court observed that even where a high court finds no urgency in a disqualification matter, issues arising under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution must be dealt with promptly in accordance with the court’s earlier judgments.

A bench, comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, was hearing a petition filed by Madhya Pradesh leader of Opposition Umang Singhar, when it was told that a petition seeking Sapre’s disqualification had been pending before the speaker since June 2024, with no final decision despite the passage of more than two years.

The Madhya Pradesh high court had, in June, declined to direct the speaker to expedite the proceedings, citing the absence of extraordinary circumstances and the fact that the assembly still had two years left in its tenure.

“What we find from the record is that there are allegations against respondent no. 4 (Sapre) of voluntarily giving up membership of the party on whose ticket she was declared elected. On this premise, it is alleged that respondent no. 4 has incurred disqualification under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution,” said the bench in its order.

It noted that a petition had been filed before the speaker but remained undecided, prompting Singhar to approach the high court. The high court dismissed his plea after observing that there was no urgency in the matter in view of the assembly’s remaining tenure.

“Even in a case where the court finds that there is no urgency, issues like these should be dealt with expeditiously,” held the Supreme Court, adding that petitions under the Tenth Schedule were expected to be decided promptly in keeping with its judgments in Padi Kaushik Reddy Vs State of Telangana (2025) and Keisham Meghachandra Singh Vs Speaker, Manipur Legislative Assembly (2021).

In the Padi Kaushik Reddy judgment, the top court directed the Telangana speaker to decide disqualification petitions against 10 MLAs within three months, emphasising that speakers cannot allow anti-defection proceedings to languish and must conclude them within a reasonable, timebound period. In Keisham Meghachandra Singh vs Speaker, Manipur Legislative Assembly (2021), the court held that three months should ordinarily be the outer limit for deciding disqualification petitions under the Tenth Schedule, barring exceptional circumstances.

In the present matter, the bench initially proposed a three-month deadline for the speaker to decide the pending petition. However, after senior advocate Vivek Tankha, appearing for Singhar, requested that the period be reduced to two months, the court modified its direction accordingly.

Tankha told the court that the matter had been kept for orders before the high court, following which notice was issued. The speaker had also taken up the disqualification proceedings and reserved the matter for orders, but no decision had followed.

“Two and a half years have gone. Another two years of the assembly’s term remain,” submitted Tankha, urging the court to ensure an early decision.

Singhar’s petition alleged that Sapre, who was elected from the Bina constituency on a Congress ticket in the 2023 assembly elections, had voluntarily given up her party membership and aligned herself with the BJP without resigning as an MLA. The allegations included her appearance on stage at a programme attended by chief minister Mohan Yadav in Rahatgarh on May 5, 2024, during the Lok Sabha election campaign.

An application seeking action against Sapre under the anti-defection law was moved before the speaker on June 30, 2024. Sapre, however, maintained that she had resigned from the Congress but had not joined the BJP, describing the allegations against her as baseless.