Gauhati High Court stays Arunachal ‘session’ decisions

Amidst the ongoing political drama in the frontier state of Arunachal Pradesh, the Gauhati high court on Thursday provided a breather to the camp of Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Nabam Tuki by keeping in abeyance all decisions taken by the state Assembly on Wednesday removing Speaker Nabam Rebia.

The court, which came down heavily on Arunachal Pradesh governor J.P. Rakhowa, passed this judgment while hearing a writ petition filed by the Speaker challenging the December 9 notification issued by the governor advancing the Assembly session to December 16 from January 24, 2016. The court has posted the case for hearing on February 1, 2016.

Prima facie, the court observed, the exercise undertaken by the governor advancing the Assembly session to December 16, 2015 is in “violation of Articles 174 and 175 of the Constitution”. The two articles relate to sessions of the state legislature and the right of the governor to address and send messages to the House. Issuing notice, Justice Hrishikesh Roy kept in abeyance the impugned decisions, including the notification issued by the deputy speaker restoring the membership of 14 suspended MLAs and the holding of the “session” at a new place, as also the decision taken at Wednesday’s “session” removing the Speaker.

The judge allowed petitioner Kapil Sibal to implead the government of Arunachal Pradesh as a party respondent. Earlier, a face-off between the pro- and anti-Tuki camps turned state capital Itanagar into a battlefield. The chief minister’s supporters created a siege-like situation in Itanagar to block 33 legislators from going to Raj Bhavan with the resolution of the Assembly session being conducted at a makeshift venue on Thursday also. The legislators who participated in the second day of the Assembly session at the makeshift venue in Nahalagun Thursday elected former finance minister and Congress MLA Kalikho Pul as the Leader of the House. They elected deputy speaker T.N. Thongdok as the new Speaker of the House.