The political turmoil in Rajasthan took a serious turn on Friday with the Special Operations Group (SOG) of the State Police registering two criminal cases after incriminating audio tapes were made public in which a dissident Congress MLA is purportedly talking to Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and a middleman about toppling the Ashok Gehlot government.
On the legal tussle over disqualification, rebel Congress leader Sachin Pilot got a respite from the Rajasthan High Court. The court directed Assembly Speaker C.P. Joshi not to take a decision on the disqualification notices issued by him to legislators in the Pilot camp till July 21 evening. The Speaker had earlier given time till Friday to the MLAs to respond to the notices.
After a Division Bench headed by Chief Justice Indrajit Mahanty passed the direction, the Speaker’s office stated that Mr. Joshi had deferred the hearing on notices issued to 19 MLAs after taking into account the “dignity of judiciary” and in view of the matter being sub judice. The decision was taken with the consent of senior advocates representing both the sides, it said.
In the wake of the tapes that surfaced on Thursday night, the Congress announced the suspension of Bhanwarlal Sharma, representing Sardarshahar Assembly co