HC to hear Yadav's plea against his ouster from RS tomorrow

The Delhi High Court today posted for hearing tomorrow former JD(U) president Sharad Yadav's plea seeking immediate setting aside of his disqualification from the Rajya Sabha.
Justice Vibhu Bakhru said he would take up the issue tomorrow as he wanted to go through the file in which the Rajya Sabha chairman's order has been challenged.
Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Yadav, said the matter needed to be heard urgently on the ground that the Winter Session of Parliament is to begin on Friday and he will not be able to participate in it if the order is not suspended.

Sibal, however, agreed with the court's view and said he will appear tomorrow.
The matter was mentioned today for urgent hearing before a bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar, which had allowed it.
Advocate Nizam Pasha, appearing for Yadav, had submitted before the court that he wanted urgent listing of the matter so that an interim stay can be passed.

The counsel for the leader of JD(U) in the House, Ram Chandra Prasad Singh, opposed its urgent listing.
Yadav, in his plea, has submitted that he was not given a chance by the Rajya Sabha chairman before the order was passed against him and his party colleague and MP, Ali Anwar, on December 4.

He has sought interim stay of the decision of Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu.
Yadav had joined hands with the opposition after Janata Dal(U) president and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar dumped the Grand Alliance with the RJD and the Congress in Bihar and tied up with the BJP in July this year.
While disqualifying Yadav and Anwar, the chairman had agreed with the JD(U)'s contention that the two senior leaders had "voluntarily given up" their membership by defying the party's directives and attending events of opposition parties.
The JD(U) had sought their disqualification on the grounds that they had attended a rally of opposition parties in Patna in violation of its directives.

Yadav was elected to the House last year and his term was scheduled to end in July 2022. Anwar's term was to expire early next year.
Singh had moved the Rajya Sabha Chairman praying for Yadav's disqualification. Acting on it, Naidu disqualified him as a member of the Rajya Sabha under the Anti-Defection Act.
The plea said the order has proceeded to disqualify him in an "extremely casual and callous way".
"The petitioner is the Member of the Upper House of the Parliament, i.e. Rajya Sabha. His membership ought not to have been dealt with in a manner as has been done in the present case," the plea alleged.