The Patna High Court on Wednesday inflicted a setback on the Nitish Kumar camp by virtually putting a stay on the decision of the Bihar Assembly Speaker recognising Nitish as leader of JD(U) legislature Party. The court said that until the Governor takes a decision on who is the leader of the House, the Speaker’s decision is untenable. However, Assembly Speaker Uday Narain Chaudhary, believed to be throwing his weight behind the former Chief Minister, asserted that his decision was constitutionally correct. Chaudhary said, “My decision is perfectly right. I took a decision as per the Constitutional provision. I am confident that my decision is correct.”
The Speaker’s assertion has brought the Assembly and the judiciary in the confrontation mode. The Speaker said he had an informal meeting with Governor Keshri Nath Tripathi on Monday. Tripathi is learnt to have chided Chaudhary for taking a decision in haste and asked him how a legislature party could have two leaders in the Assembly.
The Assembly Speaker on Wednesday recognised Vijay Kumar Chaudhary as leader of JD(U) legislature Party in the Assembly on the request of the party. With this decision, he tried to correct the mistake of recognising Nitish, who is not an MlA, as the leader of the House. Rajeshwar Raj, an MlA of Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi camp, had filed a PIl two days back in the High Court.
A Division Bench, comprising Chief Justice l Narsimha Reddy and Justice Vikas Jain, ordered that no legal consequence would flow on the basis of the letter of the Bihar Assembly Secretary who recognised Nitish Kumar as leader of the legislature Party in the Assembly in place of Jitan Ram Manjhi. While the Manjhi camp is jubilant over the HC order and treating it as their victory, the Nitish camp countered that the High Court has not adversely commented on the election of the new leader of legislature Party, nor on the validity of the meeting at which Nitish was elected leader.
Former Advocate General and a Cabinet Minister till recently, PK Shahi, said, “The court has not made any comment on the Nitish’s election, nor on the meeting which was alleged to be unauthorised by the petitioner. The court has fixed next hearing on February 18. However, Shahi added, “Nitish is not a member of the Assembly and he will have no right to enter the House unless sworn in as the Chief Minister.”
The Manjhi camp MlAs are trying to bring a no-confidence motion against the Speaker but have not been able so far to submit their proposal to the Assembly Secretariat. Petitioner Raj’s counsel SBK Mangalam claimed that the court has virtually stayed any further action on the order of the Speaker regarding recognition of Nitish as leader. Raj said in the light of the court order, the Nitish camp would not be entitled to bring a no confidence motion against the Chief Minister in the Assembly.