Abhishek Manu Singhvi cites TMC crisis, calls for major anti-defection reform

New Delhi: As a fractured Trinamool Congress (TMC) continues to face a crisis in both Parliament and the state assembly, Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Abhishek Manu Singhvi on Saturday reiterated his demand for major reform in the anti-defection law. He said that the "farce" of the 10th schedule should be done away with and a simpler, more stringent law should be brought in to punish defectors by forcing them to resign and re-contest elections properly.

"I have been advocating for many years that you must repeal all this farce of the 10th Schedule. You must have a 2-line 10th Schedule which says that anybody who is elected on symbol x and party y and who does directly or indirectly any other anti-party activity and joins/support any other party must resign the post he holds and refight the elections," Singhvi told ANI here.

The senior advocate said that a total "wrong interpretation" and a "complete distortion" of the anti-defection law is happening.

"There is a huge complete, ridiculous conceptual distortion that anywhere any legislature party - if so called 2/3rd walk out and form a group then the anti-defection law doesn't apply. This is the most ridiculously wrong interpretation and is based on complete ignorance or deliberate non-understanding of the existing law which has been decided by the Supreme Court," he said.

Referencing the 2022 Supreme Court judgement on the Shiv Sena split, he added, "Pick up and read the Shiv Sena judgment of 2022. There is no concept of a 2/3rds simplicitor in the legislator party which will prevent the application of the 'dal badal' anti-defection law. They will be subject to disqualification. However, in this country, process is the punishment."  (ANI)

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