Summary
The Supreme Court held that judicial review may require a Speaker to decide pending disqualification petitions promptly. The bar on premature interference does not shield failure to exercise jurisdiction. Ordinarily, absent exceptional circumstances supported by good reason, such petitions should be decided within three months of filing. In this case the Speaker was directed to decide within four weeks of intimation. The Court declined itself to disqualify the member or issue quo warranto against his ministerial appointment.
Issues
- Whether judicial review could compel a timely Speaker’s decision and whether the Court should itself determine disqualification or remove the minister in these appeals.
Held
- Rajendra Singh Rana had already established that failure to exercise the Speaker’s jurisdiction attracts judicial review and is not protected by paragraph 6 of the Tenth Schedule. The pending reference did not require deferral of this appeal. (¶¶ 10, 11, 22)
- Kihoto Hollohan’s restriction on quia timet and interlocutory interference protects the Speaker’s decision-making function; it does not prohibit judicial review assisting a prompt decision. As a tribunal, the Speaker must decide within a reasonable period, ordinarily no more than three months from filing unless exceptional circumstances justify otherwise. (¶¶ 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
- The Speaker must first decide disqualification. The circumstances did not justify the Court deciding it or issuing quo warranto, unlike the exceptional situation near the end of the Assembly’s life in Rajendra Singh Rana. A time-bound direction to the Speaker was the appropriate relief here. (¶ 31)
- The suggestion that Parliament consider an independent tribunal or other mechanism was a recommendation for constitutional reform, not a replacement of the Speaker’s existing authority by this judgment. (¶¶ 29, 30, 31)
Result
High Court judgment set aside. Appeals arising from SLP(C) Nos.18659 and 18763 of 2019 partly allowed; those from SLP(C) Nos.23703 and 24146 of 2019 dismissed in the stated terms. Speaker directed to decide pending disqualification petitions within four weeks of intimation, with liberty to seek further directions if no decision follows. No costs.