Speaker Dinesh Oraon, hearing an anti-defection case, filed against six JVM MlAs switching over to the BJP post-Assembly polls, over two years back, was upset over the inordinate delay in concluding the case, for the first time on Tuesday.
Expressing great displeasure over conduct of the MlAs, Oraon rapped the MlAs for not presenting witnesses in their favour before the Tribunal.
The Tribunal was to record statements of the witnesses from the six MlAs. When they did not present the witnesses and argued that they were still to go through the March 30 order of the Tribunal and were also planning to challenge it in the High Court, the Speaker got annoyed.
He said when everything is in files which they could have asked for. “Just lingering the matter on this ground is not fair. Astonished Speaker termed the act as contempt of the Tribunal,” said an official present at the open court.
“The Speaker was fuming and said that any such attempt would be considered contempt of the Tribunal in future. Also he was not happy since the court had to wait for the MlAs’ lawyers for 10 minutes in the beginning,” said the official.
Oraon has faced flak from the JVM for not delivering verdict over the anti-defection case, filed against six JVM MlAs over two years back.
The MlAs are Navin Jaiswal, Randhir Kumar Singh, Janki Prasad Yadav, Ganesh Ganjhu, Amar Kumar Bauri and Alok Kumar Chaurasia.
In fact, the Speaker’s court in its March 30 order had ruled that both the cases before it filed from JVM chief Babulal Marandi and legislator Pradeep Yadav were of similar nature and be clubbed together, and directed the defecting MlAs to present witnesses in their favour on the next date.
JVM’s advocate Rajnandan Sahay said later that they had also on previous occasions moved to the High Court but never called for stalling the processing of the Tribunal here. “They are just into delaying tactics. The case is being heard here as well as in the High Court separately and one proceeding cannot be stalled for the other. We have never done that,” said the lawyer.
The Speaker while posting the matter for the next date also issued stern warning to the MlAs in question to ensure presenting witnesses from their side without any dillydallying. The Tribunal has been under question for delaying the case which was also one of reasons behind the Speaker’s comment when he said that such tactics do not send correct message outside.