The Rajasthan high court on Monday directed the state advocate general to seek instructions from assembly speaker CP Joshi regarding his decision on the pending resignations of ruling Congress lawmakers.
The advocate general, who appeared on Joshi’s behalf, sought 10 days to get the instructions before filing a reply on the time the speaker will take to make the decision.
A bench of chief justice Pankaj Mittal and justice Shubha Mehta posted the matter for hearing next on January 16.
Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Rajendra Rathore, the petitioner in the matter, objected to the advocate general’s appearance, saying he can only represent the government and not the speaker.
He said no decision has been taken for over three months on the resignations of 91 Congress lawmakers to prevent Sachin Pilot’s possible nomination as chief minister Ashok Gehlot’s successor.
“I informed the court that assembly session has been called [from January 23], but the question still remains what decision has been taken on the resignations,” said Rathore.
On December 6, the court issued a notice to Joshi in response to Rathore’s plea against delay in taking a decision on the resignations. The court gave the speaker three weeks to file the reply.
A delegation of BJP leaders also met the speaker on October 18 and requested him to accept the resignations.
Gehlot’s loyalists on Saturday started withdrawing their resignations two days ahead of the court hearing over the matter.
