Manipur Assembly Speaker’s tribunal disqualified the State’s minister of forest Thounaojam Shyamkumar as a member of the Assembly.
According to the order of the Speaker’s tribunal on Saturday, Shyamkumar would cease to be a member of the Assembly with immediate effect till the expiry of the current term.
Subsequently secretary of the Manipur Legislative Assembly on Saturday has also notified that consequent upon his (Shyamkumar) disqualification, the seat of 7 Andro Assembly constituency, in the house is now lying vacant.
Also read: Manipur MLA Th Shyamkumar resigns
Opposition Congress MLA K Meghachandra who represents Wangkhem Assembly constituency in Manipur’s Thoubal district welcomed the step.
In a statement on Saturday, Meghachandra said, “I feel that the decision of the Speaker, despite the justice being delivered today, is too late because the justice has come after a long wait for 3 years in 5 years term of legislative tenure in our democracy.”
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court based on the disqualification petition, had restrained Shyamkumar from entering the Assembly and had also stripped him from remaining a minister.
Shyamkumar was elected in the 2017 elections on a Congress ticket.
But he switched to the BJP and became the forest minister in the coalition government.
Notably, Shyamkumar had written to the Speaker of the Manipur Assembly on March 26, expressing his willingness ‘to resign from the membership of 11th Manipur Legislative Assembly’ in respect of 7-Andro Assembly constituency with immediate effect.