Pressure has been mounting on the Assembly secretariat to divulge information on what ground it had been declared that Hek did not fall under the anti-defection rule.
BJP state president H.S. Syiemlieh had sought relevant papers on Hek’s status as a legislator in December last year.
On January 22, a voter had filed an application under the Right to Information Act, seeking detailed information on how Hek could be called a Congress MLA since he had not resigned from the BJP.
D.B. Wanshnong from Pynthorumkhrah (Hek’s constituency), filed the RTI before the public information officer, Meghalaya Legislative Assembly secretariat, with an appeal to provide all information related to Hek’s present status.
According to the Speaker’s ruling, Hek cannot fall under the anti-defection rule as the complaint against the MLA must be lodged by another BJP legislator and not by the party president. Moreover, the legislature wing of the BJP had merged with the Congress, giving no room for the application of anti-defection rule in the case of Hek.
However, the Speaker today said he would seek legal opinion whether information on Hek’s status could be provided to the BJP president and the RTI applicant. “I have not seen the RTI application. But there is no harm in giving information, provided that there are no legal complications.”
This is the first time that an RTI application has been filed in Meghalaya, seeking papers on the Speaker’s ruling under the anti-defection rule.