Speaker's order to jail two youth challenged in Delhi HC

New Delhi: A written petition has been moved before the Delhi high court, challenging the Delhi Assembly Speaker’s order awarding one-month jail to two men who had thrown pamphlets in the Assembly last week.

The Assembly had witnessed high-pitch drama after two men, claiming to be AAP workers, created ruckus inside Delhi Assembly and levelled corruption allegations against health minister Satyendar Jain. They had hurled pamphlets and raised slogans demanding the resignation of Mr Jain. They were also allegedly thrashed by AAP MLAs.

Speaker Ram Niwas Goel had sentenced the duo — Jagdeep Rana and Ranjan Kumar — to one month of rigorous imprisonment for disrupting the House.

The petitioners have claimed that the Speaker has no right to send them to rigorous imprisonment and that the order is illegal as it was issued without giving them an opportunity of being heard. Further, it points out that the order does not disclose the reasons for the imposition of the sentence.

“The Legislative Assembly has no powers to grant rigorous imprisonment. However, in the present case, the Speaker was pleased to impose rigorous imprisonment on the petitioners without jurisdiction. It is also not recorded as to why the other modes of sentencing, as prescribed in the rules, were not adopted. The impugned order is a non-speaking one and cannot be sustained being illegal,” read the petition filed through advocate Pradeep Rana. 

The petitioners have also said that they were not given any opportunity to be heard or to put their point of view before the Assembly.

The petitioners stated that the pamphlets were thrown in order to"attract the attention of the party and government to glaring issues" that had been brought before them; in particular, the corruption charges against a minister.