Lalduhoma, leader of the Opposition in the Mizoram Assembly, has been disqualified under the antidefection law, a ruling that makes him the first MLA from the state to face such a penalty.

Mizoram Assembly Speaker Lalrinliana Sailo, passed a 12page order to this effect on Friday, acting on petitions filed by 12 ruling Mizo National Front MLAs seeking his disqualification on the ground he had contested the 2018 Assembly polls as an Independent but subsequently defected to the Zoram People’s Movement (ZPM) which was registered as a political party in July 2019.

This is the second time former IPS officer Lalduhoma, 71, had fallen to the antidefection law. First, he was disqualified as an MP in 1988. He was elected to the Lok Sabha on a Congress ticket but left to form his own party — the Mizo National Union — a decision he said he was “very proud” of.

An official release said, “ In his decision, the Speaker noted Lalduhoma, who was elected independently was not a candidate fielded by any political party but he had admitted and declared himself that he joined the Zoram People’s Movement Party on 19/8/2019 and for his subsequent conduct and activities.”

This act of his, the release said, “attracted the disqualification in terms of Para 2(2) of the Tenth Schedule to the Constitution of India. Before announcing his decision the Speaker elaborated on length regarding the steps taken on the landmark case.”

Mizoram Assembly is a 40member House.

The 12 petitioners had alleged that Lalduhoma, 71, breached Para 2 (2) of the Tenth Schedule by defecting to the ZPM but also participating in the activities of the party, something which established his defection.

Para 2(2) of the Tenth Schedule says an elected member of a House “who has been elected as such otherwise than as a candidate set up by any political party shall be disqualified for being a member of the House if he joins any political party after such election.”

The official release also said Lalduhoma has thus become the first MLA to be disqualified on grounds of antidefection in the legislative history of Mizoram.

The Assembly had first showcaused Lalduhoma on September 24 on why he should not be disqualified. In his response, he maintained he had not defected to any party but owed his allegiance to the ZPM since its formation in 2017.

When contacted, Lalduhoma told The Telegraph that he had contested as Independent because the ZPM was not registered by then, that he and 37 other candidates were nominated by the ZPM, that he was the chief ministerial candidate and that he had won two seats but retained Serchhip where he had defeated in the incumbent chief minister Lal Thanhawla. He vacated the Aizwal East One seat.

“I contested as independent because the registration of my party ZPM was not complete. The Speaker has treated me as a real Independent and that I was actively active in the ZPM. The law is to punish defectors who join another party but I have remained failthful to the ZPM. Legally and constitutionally the provision under para 2 (2) is for a purely independent candidate. My case is unprecedented in India,” he said.

Lalduhoma said the order is nothing but a personal vendetta against him for exposing the MNFled state government in the last assembly session.” Once we get a copy of the order my party will peruse it and take a call. But we have two options: either to challenge the order in a court of law or contest bypolls, he said.

When asked about him creating history by getting disqualified twice, the former IPS officer, 1977 batch, and a former DCP, Delhi, in charge of VVIP security that included the then prime minister Indira Gandhi, said, “ Last time I defected from the Congress.... for the cause of peace in my state, because the peace process was getting delayed. I was the chairman of the peace committee (1984 to 1986) that comprised all political parties and NGOs which helped resolve Mizo insurgency. I am proud of my first defection, of that decision.”

When asked what will happen to the other six ZPM MLAs who also won as Independents, “So far they have targeted me because I was the leader of the Opposition,” he said.