The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear a petition seeking a review of certain provisions of the anti-defection law. The petition, filed by senior advocate and Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal, challenges the provision that allows MLAs and MPs to avoid disqualification by claiming a merger with another political party.
During the hearing, the Bench observed that the petition raised several issues that may require Parliament to address. The judges noted that the Tenth Schedule had been enacted by Parliament and that it was for Parliament to establish an appropriate mechanism under the law.
A Bench comprising Justice PS Narasimha and Justice Alok Aradhe issued a notice to the Central Government and sought its response on the matter.
SC says Parliament must decide anti-defection mechanism
Justice Narasimha said that the Tenth Schedule was created by Parliament. It is also their job to prepare a system for this. He said that these issues should be raised on the floor of the House. The Court said that the purpose of the Tenth Schedule was to regulate a system and we are looking into it. However, Sibal alleged that it was completely fraudulent.
Petition tagged with pending Goa defection case
During the hearing, Kapil Sibal informed the Supreme Court that a similar petition relating to the anti-defection law is already pending in connection with the Goa case.
The Bench subsequently tagged Sibal’s petition with the Goa matter for a joint hearing. Sibal filed the petition in his personal capacity and had sought an urgent hearing on July 22.
Sibal calls defection a threat to democracy
In his petition, Kapil Sibal argued that Paragraph 4 of the Tenth Schedule was encouraging defections rather than preventing them. He contended that the provision allows a minority party to become a majority and vice versa through the merger clause.
Sibal further argued that the current interpretation undermines the basic structure of the Constitution and has led to large-scale defections, alleged horse-trading and the overturning of electoral mandates.
Petition cites governments toppled by defections
The petition states that, over the past decade, defections have led to the fall of governments or prevented governments from being formed in Goa, Arunachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.
Kapil Sibal argued that parties including the BSP, Congress, Shiv Sena and the NCP had also been affected by defections. He urged the Court to adopt a narrower interpretation of Paragraph 4 of the Tenth Schedule to prevent legislators from using the merger provision to evade disqualification.
