Sharad Yadav moves court against disqualification from RS

Former Janata Dal-United President Sharad Yadav on Tuesday moved the Delhi high court seeking immediate setting aside of his disqualification from the Rajya Sabha.

Yadav, in his plea, said he was not given any chance by the Rajya Sabha Chairman before passing an order against him and his party colleague and MP, Ali Anwar, on December 4.

He sought interim stay of the decision of Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu.

Yadav had joined hands with the opposition after JD-U president and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar dumped the Grand Alliance with the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress in Bihar and tied up with the Bharatiya Janata Party in July this year.

While disqualifying Yadav and Anwar, the chairman had agreed to the JD-U's contention that the two senior leaders had "voluntarily given up" their membership by defying the party's directives and attending events of opposition parties.

The JD-U had sought their disqualification on the grounds that they had attended a rally of opposition parties in Patna in violation of its directives.

Yadav was elected to the House last year and his term was scheduled to end in July 2022. Anwar's term was to expire early next year.

Advocate Nizam Pasha, who filed the plea on the behalf of the leader, said the matter regarding which faction is the real Janta Dal was sub-judice and a final decision was yet to be passed by the competent court.

K Rajasekaran, the newly-appointed President of Yadav faction of the party, has already moved the high court against the poll panel's order on the allotment of the 'Arrow' symbol to the faction led by the Bihar chief minister.

Besides the Chairman of the Upper House, Yadav has also arrayed the leader of JD-U in the House, Ram Chandra Prasad Singh, as a party in his petition.

Singh had moved the Rajya Sabha Chairman praying for Yadav's disqualification. Acting on it, Naidu had disqualified him as a member of Rajya Sabha under the Anti-Defection Act.

"If the order is not stayed during the pendency of the proceedings then he would suffer an irreparable loss, in as much as he would be deprived of participating in the proceedings of the House and will not be able to get himself elected for the remainder of his term," Yadav's plea has said.