Jaipur, July 17: The Rajasthan High Court will continue hearing on Monday on the petition filed by former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot against the disqualification notice issued to him and 18 rebel Congress MLAs. Action against the legislators would remain deferred till at least 5:30 pm on Tuesday, the court said.

The bench, headed by Chief Justice Indrajit Mahanty and Justice Prakash Gupta, took up the plea for hearing earlier on Friday. Pilot and the rebel Congress legislators were represented in the courtroom by senior advocate Harish Salve and former Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi. Pilot Camp Hits Back, 2 Ex-BSP MLAs Release Video Asking Ashok Gehlot 'What Were We Offered to Join Congress?'

Salve, while beginning the argument on behalf of Pilot, said the sacked deputy CM cannot be accused of being involved in anti-party activities. The demand to change the Chief Minister cannot be equated as a bid to topple the elected government, the lawyer said.

Pilot Only Raised Voice Against 'Dictatorship' of Gehlot

Action against Pilot for marking his grievance before the Congress leadership over the alleged dictatorial manner of CM Ashok Gehlot's functioning cannot be labelled as an "anti-party activity", he added. Scuttling this right of a party member would vitiate his right to freedom of speech, Salve argued.

Rohatgi, who continued the set of arguments, claimed that the issuance of whip by Congress to attend the legislative party meeting - held at the residence of Gehlot on Monday and at Fairmont Hotel in Jaipur on Tuesday - was invalid as a whip could only be issued when the Assembly is in session.

Notably, the Congress issued disqualification notices to the rebel legislators including Pilot by claiming that they defied the party whip by not attending the CLP meetings despite repeated invites sent to them.

After Salve and Rohatgi concluded their arguments, Congress leader and senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi initiated his arguments to defend the Gehlot government's move to issue disqualification notices.

The plea moved by Pilot and other rebels is premature, said Singhvi, adding that they must first raise contensions before the Speaker before moving the court. The bench, before adjourning the hearing till Monday, directed Speaker CP Joshi to not to take any action against them till July 21.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 17, 2020 05:18 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).