New Delhi: In a major setback to former Janata Dal United president Sharad Yadav, the Supreme Court on Thursday ordered a stay on salary, allowances and other perks currently available to the veteran Bihar politician.
According to ANI, the top court partially modified a previous Delhi High Court order in this regard and said that Sharad Yadav won't get salary, allowances and other facilities like air and rail tickets.
The top court also granted him relief from vacating his official bungalow in New Delhi till July 12 till the matter pertaining to his disqualification from Rajya Sabha is resolved.
The top court also directed the Delhi High Court to hear and expedite Sharad Yadav's plea challenging his disqualification from Rajya Sabha.
The order was passed by the vacation bench of Adarsh Kumar Goel and Ashok Bhushan.
The country's highest court passed its order in response to a plea filed by Janata Dal (United) challenging the Delhi High Court order by which it had allowed Yadav to retain his official residence in New Delhi.
On May 18, the top court had agreed to hear the appeal by JD(U)'s Rajya Sabha MP Ramchandra Prasad Singh and issued a notice to Yadav.
Singh, the party's leader in the Upper House, had challenged the order of the high court passed on December 15 by which it had refused to grant interim stay on Yadav's disqualification as a Rajya Sabha MP and allowed him to draw his salary, allowances, perks and retain the bungalow till the pendency of his plea.
The interim order of the high court had come on Yadav's plea challenging his disqualification on several grounds, including that he was not given any chance to present his case by the Rajya Sabha chairman before passing an order against him and his colleague and then MP Ali Anwar on December 4.
Singh had sought their disqualification before the high court on the grounds that they had attended a rally of opposition parties in Patna in violation of the party's directives.
Yadav had joined hands with the opposition after JD(U) president and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar dumped the Grand Alliance with the RJD and the Congress in Bihar and tied up with the BJP in July last year.
Yadav was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2016 and his term is scheduled to end in July 2022.
Anwar's term as a Rajya Sabha MP expired in April. Both were disqualified under the anti-defection law.