In a major setback for Leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly Umang Singhar, the MP High Court dismissed his petition in the alleged defection case of Nirmala Sapre, the MLA elected from Bina Assembly constituency on a Congress ticket. A division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Vivek Rushia and Justice Pradeep Mittal stated that the proceedings on disqualification petition filed before the Speaker of the Assembly are ongoing and there is no urgent situation in the matter that would warrant the court to direct the Speaker to take a timely decision. The court also acknowledged that sufficient progress has been made in the case, thus requiring no judicial intervention. The case began when Congress MLA Nirmala Sapre announced her joining the BJP in May 2024 in the presence of Chief Minister Dr Mohan Yadav. Following this, Leader of the Opposition Umang Singhar filed a petition before the Speaker of the Assembly seeking termination of her membership under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution.

 

Later, when the Speaker failed to make a final decision, a petition was filed in the High Court seeking directions to set a deadline. During the hearing, the petitioner side raised the issue of nearly two-year delay and cited various Supreme Court decisions, while the State Government and the Speaker of the Assembly stated that the entire process was proceeding as per the rules and that the court’s intervention was not necessary. During the hearing, senior advocate Sanjay Agarwal, representing Nirmala Sapre, again clarified that she had neither resigned from the Congress nor formally joined the BJP. The High Court, in its order, stated that no concrete documents had been presented on record to prove that she had been expelled from the Congress or that the BJP had granted her membership. Court acknowledged that proceedings were pending before the Speaker of the Assembly and that it would not be appropriate to issue any direction at this stage. The division bench dismissed both petitions, making it clear that the Speaker would now have the final say on the substantive issue of defection.