HC refuses to interfere in Sharad Yadav's disqualification

The Delhi High Court on Friday, in an interim order, refused to stay former JD-U President Sharad Yadav's disqualification from the Rajya Sabha or allow him to attend the Winter Session of Parliament.

Justice Vibhu Bakhru however allowed him to draw allowances and perquisites including government bungalow for now.

Sharad Yadav, who has challenged his disqualification from the Rajya Sabha and also sought interim relief to attend the session, said that he was not given any chance to defend his case by the authorities before passing the order against him.

The court also asked Rajya Sabha Chairman and Janata Dal-United leader in the house Ram Chandra Prasad Singh to file their responses on Yadav's plea and posted the matter for March 1, 2018.

On December 4, Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu, who is also Rajya Sabha Chairman, disqualified rebel JD-U leaders Sharad Yadav and Ali Anwar Ansari as members of the upper house of Parliament.

The JD-U, led by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar which was declared the "real" JD-U by the Election Commission in November, had sought their disqualification on the grounds that they had attended a rally of opposition parties in Patna in violation of its direction.

Naidu had agreed with the JD-U's contention that the two senior leaders had "voluntarily given up" their membership by defying their party's directives.

Yadav and Ansari and a section of the JD-U fell out with Nitish Kumar after the latter broke away from the "Mahagathbandhan" (Grand Alliance) with the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress to re-align with the Bharatiya Janata Party earlier in 2017.

Sharad Yadav was elected to the House in 2016 and his term was scheduled to end in 2022 and Ansari's term was to expire in 2018.

--IANS

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