The Supreme Court on Wednesday said that 16 rebel Congress legislators in Madhya Pradesh can't be held captive, adding they can take a call on whether or not they want to proceed to the floor of the assembly. It also refused to accept the proposal to produce rebel MLAs in judges' chamber.
The court also said it has to ensure there is a free exercise of choice that these 16 MLAs can make.
Senior lawyer Maninder Singh, representing rebel MLAs, said they don't want to meet Congress leaders; there is no principle of law to compel them. They further said they held a press conference declaring decisions taken on free will and the same had been sworn in affidavits as well.
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We are ready to face consequences as per Constitution, but don't want to meet Congress leaders, they said.
The top court was hearing a petition filed by former Madhya Pradesh chief minister and senior BJP leader Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who sought a direction to the Kamal Nath-led government to take a floor test immediately.
The MP Congress, on the contrary, sought deferment of the trust vote in the Assembly till bypolls are conducted in vacant seats.
Chouhan opposed the Congress party, saying the Nath government cannot continue for a single day, for it has lost the majority, following the resignation of MLAs who quit after Jyotiraditya Scindia joined the BJP last week.
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Mukul Rohatgi, representing Chouhan, said Congress wanted rebel MLAs to go to Bhopal so that they could be lured and it could do horse trading.
The MP Congress told the apex court that a probe into the resignation letters of its rebel MLAs submitted by BJP leaders to the Speaker of the state Assembly was needed.
The Congress Party alleged before a bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and Hemant Gupta that resignations of its rebel MLAs in Madhya Pradesh were extracted by force and coercion and they did not act as per their free will.
Senior advocate Dushyant Dave, appearing for the Congress, said its rebel MLAs were taken away in chartered flights and are currently incommunicado in a resort arranged by the BJP.
Dave also said the Governor has no business to send messages at night asking the Chief Minister or Speaker to hold floor test.
"The Speaker is the ultimate master and the Madhya Pradesh Governor is overriding him," Dave said.
