Rebel AAP leader Kapil Mishra moves Delhi HC against disqualification from legislative assembly

Rebel AAP leader Kapil Mishra moved the Delhi High Court on Tuesday against his disqualification from the Legislative Assembly under the anti-defection law.

Delhi Assembly speaker Ram Niwas Goel had on August 2 disqualified Mishra, an MLA from Karawal Nagar, with effect from January 27 when he had shared the stage with BJP leaders at an event organised by them.

The Speaker had also said that since Mishra campaigned for the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Lok Sabha polls, it indicated that he has "given up the membership of his original political party".

Seeking quashing of the August 2 order, Mishra has contended that the Speaker's decision was "wholly illegal, arbitrary, vague and mala fide" as he was not provided any opportunity to present his case.

The petition, filed through advocate Ashwani Kumar Dubey, claimed the Speaker assumed that Mishra had voluntarily given up his party membership when he attended the BJP event, without considering that