New Delhi | The Supreme Court today delivering its verdict on the ongoing Karnataka political crisis said that the state assembly speaker can’t be forced to accept the resignation in a certain time frame.
Responding to the plea of 15 rebel Congress-JD(S) MLAs seeking direction for Karnataka Speaker K R Ramesh Kumar to accept their resignations from the Assembly, the Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said that the Karnataka MLAs are not compelled to participate in the trust vote tomorrow till Speaker decides.
Speaking on the verdict, Mukul Rohatgi who represented Karnataka rebel MLAs said, “In view of Trust Vote kept for tomorrow, Supreme Court has said two important things- 15 MLAs will not be compelled to attend the House tomorrow. All 15 MLAs are given the liberty that may or may not go to the House tomorrow.”
“The three-line whip issued against them (rebel MLAs) to attend the House tomorrow is not operative in view of the SC judgement. Secondly, the Speaker has been given time to decide on the resignations as and when he wants to decide,” Rohatgi added.
While BJP is still on its stand demanding resignation from HD Kumaraswamy, Jagadish Shettar said,” There is anarchy in the state because of HD Kumaraswamy, he should resign immediately after this verdict and not wait for the trust vote.”
Earlier on Tuesday summing up the arguments, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the 15 MLAs, asked the bench to continue with its interim order directing the Speaker to maintain status quo on the issue of resignations and disqualification of the MLAs.
The counsel for the rebel MLAs also asked the bench that if the House assembles for business the 15 rebel MLAs be exempted from appearing on the basis of the whip of the ruling coalition which, he said, has been reduced to minority government.
While Senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan, appearing for Kumaraswamy, told the bench that the Speaker cannot be compelled to decide this issue in a time-bound manner. “When resignation process is not in order, court cannot direct Speaker to decide by 6PM,” Dhavan told the bench, also comprising Justices Deepak Gupta and Aniruddha Bose. He said that the court that the rebel MLAs were hunting in a pack to destabilise his government and that the court should not have entertained their petitions.
Senior advocate A M Singhvi, appearing for the Speaker, told the bench that no direction was issued to the Karnataka Speaker by the court in the midnight hearing when floor test was ordered and BS Yeddyurappa was invited to form the government last year. He told the bench that the Speaker was yet to decide on the resignations and disqualification of rebel MLAs and the court had ample power to punish.
The rebel MLAs told the court that the Speaker kept their resignation pending just to disqualify them and there was nothing wrong in resigning to escape disqualification. Rohatgi submitted before the bench that the Speaker can be directed to decide on the resignation of the MLAs by 2 PM and he can take a call on their disqualification later.
The resignations of these MLAs has plunged the H D Kumaraswamy government in Karanataka into a crisis as it faces the risk of losing majority in the Assembly.
Apart from the question of maintainability of the writ petition filed under Article 32 of the Constitution by the MLAs, the Supreme Court had said it needs to address as to whether the speaker is obligated to decide on the disqualification proceedings before accepting the resignation of legislators.
The counsel for the rebels MLAs had contended that the speaker has not decided on the resignation of the lawmakers to bind them with the party whip and disqualify them from the membership if they violate the whip on the floor of the House.
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