The Punjab and Haryana High Court has sought a clear response from the Punjab government on whether the Punjab Vidhan Sabha will hear a long-pending disqualification petition against Banga MLA Sukhwinder Singh Sukhi on July 29. Sukhi, a two-time legislator, had defected from the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in August last year.
The directive came from a bench headed by Chief Justice Sheel Nagu while hearing a fresh application filed by senior advocate H.C. Arora. The court directed the state counsel to obtain instructions on whether the disqualification proceedings, pending for nearly ten months, would indeed be taken up on the scheduled date or face further adjournment.
The bench noted with concern the continuous delay in the matter and posted the case for the next hearing on August 8.
Under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution — the anti-defection law — legislators are liable to be disqualified if they voluntarily give up membership of their original party. Advocate Arora had initially filed a disqualification plea before the Punjab Assembly Speaker in September 2024, soon after Sukhi’s party switch.
Frustrated by the lack of progress, Arora moved the High Court later that month. The court, while disposing of the earlier PIL in February, had expressed hope that the disqualification proceedings would be concluded expeditiously.
With no apparent action taken by the Speaker’s office since then, Arora filed a fresh application earlier this month, seeking the court’s intervention to ensure that the matter is not indefinitely delayed.
The High Court’s latest intervention puts pressure on the Speaker’s office to act on the disqualification plea without further delay.
