Bengaluru | The Rebel MLAs who had resigned from the Congress-JD(S) coalition in Karnataka assembly have moved the Supreme Court against the Speaker.
According to the MLAs, the Speaker “abandoned his constitutional duty” and “deliberately delaying acceptance”.
The Supreme Court will hear the matter tomorrow.
A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi took note of the submission of senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the rebel MLAs, and assured him that it will see whether their petition can be listed for an urgent hearing tomorrow.
The senior lawyer said these lawmakers have already resigned from their membership of the assembly and wanted to contest fresh elections.
He sought the hearing either on Wednesday or Thursday on the plea in which it has been alleged that the Speaker had acted in a partisan manner and deliberately not accepting their resignations.
“We will see,” the bench, which also comprised justices Deepak Gupta and Aniruddha Bose, said when Rohatgi was pressing for an urgent hearing saying “time is the essence” in the matter.
The state Assembly Speaker had held on Tuesday that the resignations of nine out of 14 rebel MLAs were not in order.
The Congress has sought the intervention of Speaker K R Ramesh Kumar in disqualifying its rebel legislators and accused the BJP of using money power to lure its members. The BJP has denied the charge.
Also Read: Rebel MLAs claim Karnataka CM “threat to life”
While 13 MLAs from ruling coalition Congress and the JD(S) resigned earlier including 12 on Saturday, two independent MLAs H Nagesh (Mulbagal constituency) and R Shankar (Ranebennur) withdrew their support to the government Monday.
With the support of two independent MLAs, the BJP now has 107 MLAs in the 224-member House, where the half-way mark is 113.
If the resignations of the 13 MLAs (ten of Congress, and three JDS) are accepted, the coalition’s tally will be reduced to 103. The Speaker has a casting vote in case of a tie.
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