Bill to deny pension to MLAs disqualified under anti-defection law tabled in Himachal assembly

The Himachal Pradesh government has introduced a new bill aimed at tightening rules against defection by elected representatives. Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu presented the Himachal Pradesh Assembly Allowances and Pension Amendment Bill, 2026, during the Budget Session of the Assembly on Wednesday.

The proposed law seeks to stop MLAs disqualified under anti-defection rules from receiving pension benefits. As per the bill, any member elected to the 14th Assembly or later, and later disqualified under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution, will not be eligible for a pension, News18 reported. A new sub-section has been added to Section 6-B of the existing 1971 Act to make this provision clear.

The move comes as the state government looks to discourage members from switching after elections. Officials believe that the current system does not have strong enough penalties, which allows some legislators to change sides despite being elected on a different mandate.
The bill follows developments during the 2024 Rajya Sabha elections in the state, where six Congress MLAs voted against their party line to help BJP’s Harsh Mahajan secure a win. Those involved included Sudhir Sharma, Rajendra Rana, Inder Dutt Lakhanpal, Ravi Thakur, Chaitanya Sharma and Devendra Bhutto.

Around the same time, the Congress issued a whip directing its MLAs to be present for voting on the appropriation bill. But these six legislators did not attend, which was seen as defying party instructions. This led to their disqualification under anti-defection rules.

Among the six, Chaitanya Sharma and Devendra Kumar Bhutto were serving as MLAs for the first time and lost their seats following the action. In the by-elections, all six contested on BJP tickets. Devendra Bhutto, Ravi Thakur and Chaitanya Sharma were not able to win, while the others had prior experience as MLAs from earlier terms.

Under the proposed changes, Chaitanya Sharma and Devendra Kumar Bhutto will not receive pension or related benefits for their term in the 14th Assembly. The remaining leaders will still be eligible for pension  as they had earlier completed terms in previous Assemblies.

The bill will first be taken up for discussion in the Assembly before being put to vote. Once cleared, it will be sent to the Governor for assent, after which the amended provisions will come into force.