Former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) Kartar Singh Tanwar has approached the Delhi High Court, challenging his disqualification from the Delhi Legislative Assembly on grounds of defection (Kartar Singh Tanwar v. Speaker Legislative Assembly, Government of NCT of Delhi & Anr).
Tanwar alleges that the Assembly Speaker disqualified him without providing an opportunity for a personal hearing. He further claims that, due to health issues known to the Speaker, he was unable to personally attend the inquiry proceedings initiated in response to the defection allegations.
On Friday, Justice Sanjeev Narula issued a notice seeking the Speaker’s response on the matter, as well as a reply from MLA Dilip Pandey, whose petition led to Tanwar’s disqualification.
Kartar Singh Tanwar, who represented the Chhatarpur constituency, was elected to the Delhi Legislative Assembly on an AAP ticket. Dilip Kumar Pandey (respondent no. 2 in Tanwar’s petition) filed a disqualification petition in August 2024, seeking Tanwar’s disqualification, claiming that he had defected from AAP and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The Speaker issued an order disqualifying Tanwar on September 24, which Tanwar has now challenged through his petition filed by Advocates Neeraj and Satya Ranjan Swain.
In his plea, Tanwar argues that he has remained committed to the AAP’s founding ideology and objectives, but believes that the party has deviated significantly from its original principles. He cites corruption allegations against AAP leaders, including Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia, Satyendar Jain, and Sanjay Singh, as evidence of this shift.
“Having such leaders is an embarrassment for Delhiites and does not give a feeling of pride to the party workers… The party has already died its natural death, and the Petitioner cannot be said to have voluntarily given up his membership of such party,” Tanwar’s plea states.
Tanwar contends that the allegations against him are baseless and motivated. He also questions the impartiality of the Speaker in deciding on the disqualification, arguing that the Speaker acted as an “agent of the ruling political party,” issuing the disqualification order hastily without allowing him to fully present his case.
The case is scheduled for the next hearing on December 9.
Senior Advocate Jayant Mehta, along with Advocates Neeraj, Satya Ranjan Swain, Vijay Joshi, Amit Tiwari, Sidharth Khatana, Piyush Beriwal, Shoumendu Mukherji, Kautilya Birat, Ankush Kapoor, Diva Saigal, Puneet Dhawan, and Amit Gupta, represented Kartar Singh Tanwar. Senior Advocate Sudhir Nandrajog, with Advocate Sameer Vashisht, appeared for the Speaker and Dilip Kumar Pandey.
