Rambali Singh’s petition challenges the decision of the Patna High Court, and the case is being heard by a division bench comprising Justice Suryakant and Justice Ujjwal Bhuiyan.
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court issued a notice to the Bihar Government and the Assembly office in response to a petition filed by RJD leader Rambali Singh, who was expelled from the Bihar Assembly. The court seeks a response from Govt. and scheduled the next hearing for October 25.
Rambali Singh’s petition challenges the decision of the Patna High Court, and the case is being heard by a division bench comprising Justice Suryakant and Justice Ujjwal Bhuiyan.
Singh was expelled due to accusations of anti-party activities and disciplinary violations.
Rambali Singh’s membership in the Legislative Council was terminated on February 6 by then-Chairman Devesh Chandra Thakur after the allegations were found to be true.
Singh had subsequently filed a petition in the High Court against this decision.
The expulsion stemmed from remarks Singh made during a program where he criticized Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, accusing him of ruling Bihar’s politics for 18 years by exploiting the vote bank of the extremely backward class. Singh claimed that Nitish Kumar had harmed the interests of this community.
Challenging his expulsion, Rambali Singh initially approached the Patna High Court, arguing that the Chairman’s order was procedurally flawed. He claimed the order violated Rules 6(6) and 7 of the Bihar Legislative Council (Disqualification on the Ground of Defection) Rules, 1994 (“Bihar Rules”).
Singh’s argument relied on Rule 6, which mandates that any complaint or petition against a member of the Bihar Legislative Council must be signed by the complainant and verified according to the procedures outlined in the Code of Civil Procedure (CPC) for the verification of pleadings (Order 6 Rule 15 CPC). Rule 7, meanwhile, grants the Chairman the authority to dismiss a petition if it does not meet the requirements specified in Rule 6.
Singh contended that the complaint against him did not comply with the requirements of Order 6 Rule 15 CPC, as it was not accompanied by an affidavit. He stated that he raised this issue as a preliminary objection before the Chairman, but the Chairman dismissed his objection.
On November 11, 2023, RJD Deputy Chief Whip Sunil Kumar Singh wrote to the Speaker of the House, seeking the cancellation of Rambali Singh’s membership. Sunil Singh argued that Rambali Singh, while still a member of the RJD, had made baseless allegations against the leader of the RJD Legislature Party.
Specifically, Rambali Singh accused Nitish Kumar of relegating the Teli caste, which he claimed pays the highest taxes in Bihar, to the status of an extremely backward class, a move he described as detrimental to the community.
