New Delhi: The Supreme Court Friday restrained Karnataka Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar from taking any decision till next Tuesday on the resignation and disqualification of 10 rebel MLAs of the ruling Congress-JD(S) coalition.
Citing “weighty issues that have arisen”, the bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said that the matter will be considered by it on July 16 and the status quo as of Friday should be maintained.
The bench, also comprising Justices Deepak Gupta and Aniruddha Bose, specifically mentioned in the order that the Speaker would not decide on the issue of the resignation or the disqualification of rebel MLAs to enable the court to judge larger issues raised in the matter.
The bench noted the issue of maintainability of the rebel MLAs’ petition under Article 32 of the Constitution was raised by the speaker and Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy.
The case involves issues of substantial importance related to Articles 190 and 361 of the Constitution, it said, adding that it also needs to address as to whether the Speaker is obligated to decide on disqualification proceedings before accepting the resignations of MLAs.
The bench took into account the arguments by senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the rebel MLAs, countering the Speaker’s submission that the disqualification plea of the ruling coalition in the southern state had to be decided before taking up the issue of resignation of the lawmakers.
“In view of the weighty issues that have arisen, we are of the view that the matter be considered by us on Tuesday. We are of the view that the status quo as of today with regard to the prevailing situation be maintained. Neither the issue of resignation nor that of disqualification be decided till Tuesday,” the bench had said.
Before passing the order, the bench asked Kumar’s counsel AM Singhvi, “Is Speaker challenging the authority and power of the Supreme Court. Is it his case. Are you challenging our power to issue directions to the Speaker? Are you saying that we should stay our hands so far as the Speaker is concerned? You are suggesting that he is duty-bound to decide on the disqualification prior to their resignations.”
Singhvi replied: “Yes, this is what is my case.”
At the outset, Rohatgi alleged that the Speaker has not decided on the resignations of the lawmakers and the idea behind keeping the issue alive and pending was to bind them with the party whip and disqualify them from the membership if they violate the whip on the floor of the house.
He said the speaker questioned the MLAs’ move to approach the apex court and rebuked them by saying “go to hell” in front of the media.
“He gave mixed signals in the press conference after his meeting with MLAs. He is trying to ride two horses — on the one hand, he says he needs time to examine the resignations, on the other, he questions the Supreme Court’s power to issue orders to him,” Rohatgi said.
“He (speaker) says he requires time to go through the resignation letters. But they are one-liners. How long could it take him to read them. Why did he not decide on the resignations as directed by this court yesterday. He should be held for contempt. He can be allowed one or two days for this task, but until then, the MLAs cannot be disqualified,” he said.
Now the Karnataka government has asked the MLAs to attend the House and vote on the budget and if they violate the whip, they shall be punished with disqualification and their resignations would become infructuous, he said, adding that “this is why the resignations have been kept pending”.
The 10 rebel MLAs who moved the apex court alleging that the Speaker was not accepting their resignations are Pratap Gouda Patil, Ramesh Jarkiholi, Byrati Basavaraj, B C Patil, S T Somashekhar, Arbail Shivaram Hebbar, Mahesh Kumathalli, K Gopalaiah, A H Vishwanath and Narayana Gowda. (PTI)
