The Allahabad High Court has dismissed a PIL seeking ouster of deputy chief minister of UP Keshav Prashad over his controversial statement made on July 14 that party organization is more powerful than the government.
Dismissing the PIL filed by one Manjesh Kumar Yadav, an advocate, a division bench comprising Chief Justice Arun Bhansali and Justice Vikas Budhwar observed, “The statements given by the ministers, otherwise than in their official capacity, by itself, cannot form the basis for making allegations of the present nature and requiring the council of ministers to endorse or contradict the statement so made by the minister”.
Based on the said purported statement, the petitioner claimed that the said statement is contrary to the constitutional scheme of good governance and the people of the state have not conceived the correct perspective of the said statement. Therefore, the petitioner, being a lawyer, is duty bound to advocate and spouse the common cause for the benefit of people of the state.
The plea taken by the petitioner was that Maurya’s remarks – party organization is bigger than the government- undermined the dignity of his office and cast doubts on the transparency and purity of the government.
The lack of response or denial from both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Governor, and the Election Commission further compounds the issue, highlighting it as a matter of serious concern, he added.
Moreover, the petition had also references Maurya’s criminal history, noting that he has been implicated in seven criminal cases prior to his appointment as Deputy Chief Minister.
