Ordinance row: HC to hear contempt plea against PM

Lucknow: The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court would on Thursday hear a contempt petition against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the issue of the ordinance to save convicted lawmakers from disqualification.

The contempt petition filed by social activist Nutan Thakur accuses Singh of “having openly defied the orders of the Supreme Court”.

The bench of Justice Ajai Lamba would hear the petition in which the petitioner cites the case of Lily Thomas vs Union of India & Others, wherein the apex court had struck down section 8(4) as being ultra-vires because it provides different dates of disqualification for sitting MP/MLA vis-a-vis those qualified to be chosen so.

Despite this, the prime minister, in a clear violation of the Supreme Court order, recommended the Representation of the People (Second Amendment and Validation) Ordinance, 2013 with minor amendment in section 8(4), Thakur told IANS.

“I have prayed for initiating action against the prime minister under section 12 of the Contempt of Courts Act 1971,” Thakur said.

The relevant ordinance seeks to override the Supreme Court’s decision on disqualifying convicted lawmakers. The ordinance, cleared by the union cabinet and awaiting President Pranab Mukherjee’s signature, was last week trashed by Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi as “complete nonsense” and fit to be “torn up and thrown away”.

IANS