Anti-defection questions arise after six Sena UBT MPs skip party meeting

NEW DELHI: Can refusal of six Lok Sabha members of Sena UBT to attend a meeting despite a ‘whip’ issued by party chief Uddhav Thackeray be a valid ground to disqualify them under the Tenth Schedule for non-obedience?Uddhav’s Sena UBT is planning to seek disqualification of six MPs – Sanjay Jadhav, Bhausaheb Wakchaure, Omraje Nimbalkar, Sanjay Dina Patil, Sanjay Deshmukh and Nagesh Patil Ashtikar – who have broken away from the party by not turning up at the meeting. RS MP Sanjay Raut argued that the absence of the rebels amounted to disobeying the party’s diktat, and that is grounds for their membership to be cancelled under the anti-defection law.Legal experts, however, differ, with some of them holding that disqualification for defiance of the ‘whip’ applies only to the actions of lawmakers inside the House.Kapil Sibal, senior advocate and former law minister, said, “As far as the ‘whip’ is concerned, it is meant for the members’ conduct in the House, to vote or not to vote on a party line, which can be subject to disqualification.” However, if a member is not adhering to the party diktat on attending a party meeting, it amounts to “voluntarily giving up the party membership”. If they have not given any reason for not attending, that can be a ground for disqualification, he added.But is the ‘whip’ solely tied to the proceedings within the legislative House? “The text of the Tenth Schedule explicitly ties disqualification to a member who ‘votes or abstains from voting in such House’ contrary to any direction issued by the political party. The phrase ‘in such House’ is a strict geographical and functional limitation,” said Ajay Garg, an advocate practising in Supreme Court.“A party meeting, an internal organisational consultation, or a legislative party gathering is not ‘the House’. Therefore, non-attendance or defiance at an internal meeting does not constitute a textual violation of the Tenth Schedule,” Garg said.Sibal, however, said “six members of Sena UBT not attending the party’s parliamentary meeting is a collective decision, which suggests they are giving up their party membership and action can be taken on their conduct”.The decision of disqualification as per the Tenth Schedule lies with the Speaker of LS or assemblies, as the case may be, but his decision is subject to judicial scrutiny.