Congress MLA Bhaga Barad disqualified: Gujarat HC asks state government to file reply

The Gujarat high court has sought answers from the state government over the disqualification of Congress MLA Bhaga Barad.

The now disqualified MLA had in a petition challenging his disqualification said that the Speaker had taken a decision that was outside his purview of power. It had also questioned the election commission's undue haste in announcing by-election for the Talala seat which was represented by Barad.

The counsel for Barad on Tuesday argued that even after an MLA is disqualified by the Speaker, the authorities are to wait for eight weeks in case the disqualification is challenged.

The counsel argued that in this case, the authorities did not wait for the mandatory eight weeks to announce the election despite the decision being challenged.

The state on its parts argued that its decision is based on a Supreme Court order that says that convicted MLAs have to be disqualified.

The state argued that any legislator who had been convicted for more than two years had to be disqualified.

The petition by Barad states that he was suspended after being convicted in a case but the power to suspend was beyond the scope of the speaker.

It further said that before any such order is passed, the speaker is duty bound to hear the aggrieved party.

Barad was convicted in a case of illegal mining and awarded a jail sentence last week. A court in Gir Somnath had awarded jail term of two years and nine months to the MLA on March 1 in the 24-year-old case. Barad's conviction in the 1995 illegal mining case was stayed on March 7 by the same court that had pronounced him guilty.

The FIR against Barad for illegal mining on a gauchar land in Sutrapada taluka of Gir Somnath district was filed in 1995. He and his aides were accused of extracting 2.83 lakh tonne limestone valued at Rs 2.83 crore.