New Delhi, Dec 2 The Delhi High Court on Thursday refused an early hearing of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking direction for holding the election of Deputy Lok Sabha Speaker.
The bench presided over by Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh said it will hear the matter on the proposed date on February 28 next year, as there is no urgency in the matter.
Praying for an early hearing in the matter, the petitioner stated that the matter was listed for hearing on November 29, 2021, but the concerned bench did not assemble on the day and it was posted for February 28, 2022.
Earlier, in the matter, the court had asked Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Chetan Sharma representing the Centre to take instructions in this regard without issuing the notice to respondents.
The petitioner, Pawan Reley, said the post of Deputy Speaker has been vacant for more than two years in violation of Article 93 of the Constitution.
"It has been 830 days as of August 30 that Deputy Speaker has not been elected from the date of the constitution of 17th Lok Sabha. This is very serious," the petitioner contended.
He alleged inaction of the Constitutional functionaries and in evading their duties in not holding the election of the Deputy Speaker, Lok Sabha.
The plea contended that no discretion has been conferred on any authority for not electing a Deputy Speaker and Rule 8 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha casts a primary duty on the Speaker to fix the date for holding the election of the Deputy Speaker.
The entire democratic structure in the House of the People rests on the shoulder of the Speaker, Deputy Speaker in absence of the Speaker, and members of the House of the People.
There is close nexus between the democratic structure and the fundamental rights of the people.
Once this nexus is broken, it violates the fundamental rights of the people, the plea added.
It further said that this petition will result in maintaining the democratic structure of the Indian Constitution which is one of the most important basic structures of the Constitution of India, the plea said.
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor