IMPHAL, Feb 5: The Manipur Speaker’s Tribunal on Tuesday said it would hear on February 7 the anti-defection case of five JD(U) MLAs who had joined the BJP shortly after winning the state assembly elections in 2022. A petition seeking their disqualification from the assembly was filed by Hareshwar Goswami, the vice-president of the Manipur Congress.
During a hearing earlier this week, Speaker Thokchom Satyabrata Singh reviewed the matter and decided that it would be heard again on Friday, February 7. Goswami’s counsel, N Bhupendra Meitei, confirmed the next hearing date and noted that the Speaker is taking the case up expeditiously.
The JD(U) had won six out of the 38 constituencies it contested in the 2022 assembly elections. The five MLAs in question—Kh Joykishan, N Sanate, Md Achab Uddin, L M Khaute, and Thangjam Arunkumar—joined the BJP shortly after the elections. Meitei added that only Kh Joykishan had filed a counter affidavit in response to the petition, while the other MLAs have not yet done so.
In addition to this case, the Congress in Manipur last month filed disqualification petitions against four National People’s Party (NPP) MLAs for extending support to the BJP-led government, despite the NPP severing ties with the ruling front two months ago.
Meitei also mentioned that during a hearing on Monday, he brought up the disqualification case against the four NPP MLAs. The final decision on both cases will be made by the Speaker after the matters are formally reviewed.
