The long pending case of six former JVM legislators joining the BJP soon after 2014 Assembly elections took a new turn which, legal experts said, may delay it even further. In a surprise move in Speaker’s court on Friday, barring Navin Jaiswal and Amar Kumar Bauri other four of their companions opted for separate advocates for presenting their cases over there.
“Earlier, Rajiv Ranjan was the single lawyer of all the six MlAs who are facing charges of defection from JVM to the BJP under the anti-defection law. But today before Speaker Dinesh Oraon, legislators Randheer Singh, Janki Prasad Yadav, Alok Chaurasia and Ganesh Ganju produced four different lawyers to defend them,” said an Assembly official present in the hearing.
The tactical move has come at the juncture when the Speaker court is under pressure from Jharkhand High Court to deal with the matter speedily. The High Court which is also hearing the case had asked from the Assembly about a timeline by which the matter may be finalised.
“In legal terms, it has been done deliberately to linger the matter even further. The new advocates would seek all the previous documents, statements recorded, cross examinations done etc. It will consume time and delay the matter which is already running at snail’s pace due to the pressure coming from the Government.
This vindicates our position as we have been charging the Speaker and Government for knowingly sabotaging the case in order to save it from embarrassment,” said JVM legislator Pradeep Yadav.
However, on his part the Speaker made clear his position on the allegations of the JVM by quoting provisions of the 10th Schedule of the Constitution under which the complaints have been filed.
“He read out the provisions which state clearly that those in question have to be given full opportunity to present their cases and then only any conclusion can be reached out. The Speaker also clarified that ever since the matter came before him on February 10, 2015, as many as 13 hearings have taken place so far and he as presiding officer has worked promptly along with delivering his obligations as Assembly Speaker,” said the official.
Moreover, the Speaker’s court did not fix any new date for next hearing after two more witnesses Sampati Devi and Dinesh Mishra were cross examined on Friday.