3 Karnataka MLAs challenge Speaker’s decision to disqualify them

Tribune News Service
New Delhi, July 29

Rebel Congress MLAs Ramesh Jarkiholi and Mahesh Kumathalli on Monday moved the Supreme Court challenging the state Assembly Speaker’s decision to disqualify them from the House under the anti-defection law.

Independent MLA R Shankar, too, filed a separate petition in the top court seeking quashing of Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar’s order to disqualify him.

Earlier, the three MLAs had, along with other rebel legistalors, approached the SC seeking direction to the Speaker to accept their resignations. But the top court had left it to the Speaker to take a call on the issue.

On the eve of the BS Yediyurappa government’s crucial trust vote, the Speaker rejected their resignations and chose to disqualify them from the assembly under the 10th Schedule of the Constitution.

Interestingly, Kumar resigned as Speaker on Monday.

The petitioners contended that the Speaker’s action violated Article 190 of the Constitution which says the Speaker is only required to see if the resignation by an MLA is genuine and voluntary. They termed Kumar’s action as arbitrary, unreasonable and violative of Article 14 of the Constitution.

“The impugned order is not in consonance with the provisions of Rules 6 and 7 of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly (Disqualification of Members on Ground of Defection) Rules, 1986, inasmuch as they were not given seven days’ notice before the matter was taken up for hearing,” they contended.

The Speaker’s order was contradictory in itself “as it holds on the one hand that the petitioners appeared before him and submitted their resignations in person and on the other hand goes on to hold that the resignations are not voluntary and genuine”, the petitioners submitted.