Saikia to continue as Leader of Opp after HC disposes of appeal

GUWAHATI:

Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader and Nazira MLA, Debabrata Saikia will continue to be the Leader of Opposition in the Assam Legislative Assembly (ALA).

A division bench of the Gauhati High Court, on Wednesday, disposed of an appeal filed by the ALA Secretariat, seeking vacation of the stay order passed earlier this month by a single judge in connection with de-recognition of Saikia as Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly.

The division bench directed the ALA Secretariat to approach a single judge and seek redress.

They have fixed the matter for hearing before the single judge on January 29, 2021.

Saikia had earlier moved the High Court seeking its intervention.

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The High Court, on January 12, 2021, put an interim stay on the Assembly Speaker’s notification which had derecognized Saikia as the Leader of Opposition.

The court stated that the notification under challenge was “unsustainable under law.”

Assam Assembly Speaker had withdrawn the recognition of Saikia as Leader of the Opposition after two Congress MLAs quit to join the ruling BJP, reducing the grand old party’s number of lawmakers to 20, one less than the 21 needed to have one-sixth of the total members of the Assembly.

According to the Speaker’s notification (dated January 1, 2021), the Opposition Congress does not have the requisite one-sixth House strength in the 126-member Assembly to hold the post of Leader of the Opposition.

(Edited by Andre Kongri)

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