HP Assembly passes Bill to deny pensions to party-switching MLAs

The Himachal Pradesh assembly on Wednesday, September 4, passed a bill that disallows pension for MLAs who defect or switch allegiance to other parties.

State chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu introduced the bill titled the Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly (Allowances and Pension of Members) Amendment Bill 2024.

“A person shall not be entitled to a pension under the Act if they have been disqualified at any point under the 10th Schedule of the Constitution,” the Bill states, referring to the anti-defection law.

The Bill was introduced during the disqualification of six Congress MLAs in February who were under the anti-defection law for defying the party whip by absenting themselves from the House during the 2024-25 budget passage and cut motion discussions.

The disqualified MLAs were – Sudhir Sharma, Ravi Thakur, Rajinder Rana, Inder Dutt Lakhanpal, Chetanya Sharma, and Devinder Kumar. These six MLAs had voted for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) nominee in the Rajya Sabha election in February.