October 02, 2007	Tuesday	Ramazan 19, 1428

NEW DELHI: The Patna High Court on Monday slapped a fine of Rs 10,000 on advocate Shruti Singh for filing what it said was a frivolous petition challenging the continuation of Dr Manmohan Singh as prime minister despite not being a member of the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the parliament.

A division bench comprising Justice Narain Roy and Justice Madhvendra Sharan dismissed Ms Singh’s petition and slapped the fine, saying the ground cited by the petitioner was “frivolous”.

In her petition, Ms Singh had challenged the continuation of Dr Singh as prime minister because he was not a member of the Lok Sabha.

She had made Secretary of Union Law and Justice Ministry, Secretary of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, Election Commission (EC) and Bihar government as respondents.

Dr Singh is the only prime minister who was never an elected member of the lower house of parliament or the state assembly.

While the law overlooks the need for such a requirement, questions have been asked about the wisdom of relegating the prime minister’s job to a safe seat in the Rajya Sabha.