Karnataka Crisis: SC says Speaker To Decide On Resignations, Rebel MLAs Can Skip Trust Vote If They Want

The Supreme court also ordered that the 15 rebel MLAs ought not to be compelled to participate in assembly proceedings including confidence motion of the state government.

Supreme Court

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered that the Karnataka assembly should decide on resignation of 15 rebel MLAs within a reasonable time frame and leave it for the speaker to take a call on the issue. The verdict by the Supreme Court was delivered in line with the pleas of 15 rebel Congress-JD (S) MLAs seeking a direction to Assembly Speaker to accept their resignations. The Supreme court also ordered that the 15 rebel MLAs ought not to be compelled to participate in assembly proceedings including confidence motion of the state government.

Supreme Court says, "Karnataka MLAs not compelled to participate in the trust vote tomorrow." https://t.co/qSfPf8oQ2x

— ANI (@ANI) July 17, 2019

The Supreme Court order could be a major set back for the ruling JD(S)-Congress coalition who are on the slim hope that at least four of their rebel MLAs who have quit would have a change a heart and withdraw their resignations ahead of Thursday’s trust vote called by chief minister HD Kumaraswamy. Addressing the Supreme Court's verdict on in Karnataka rebel MLAs case, former Karnataka CM & BJP leader, B. S. Yeddyurappa said that he was certain that the government will not last because they do not have the numbers.

Former Karnataka CM & BJP leader, B. S. Yeddyurappa on Supreme Court's verdict in Karnataka rebel MLAs case: Certainly the Government will not last because they do not have the numbers. pic.twitter.com/THLWCWMlu9

— ANI (@ANI) July 17, 2019

A change of mind by a minimum four rebels is vital for the survival of the coalition if the Supreme Court’s verdict, set to be delivered on Wednesday, goes against it. The 13-month-old coalition government in Karnataka slumped into crisis following the resignation of several Congress and JD(S) MLAs from the membership of the House. The resignation of all dissenting MLAs from Congress and JDS have not been accepted yet by the Speaker but if they are, the tally of Congress-JDS in the Karnataka Assembly will come down to 100. The court decision capped high-voltage arguments on Tuesday during which Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy said the rebel MLAs are "hunting in a pack", alleging their motive is to bring down his government while the dissidents submitted Speaker K R Ramesh Kumar wants to prop up a government which has lost majority. The Speaker on his part said that he, being a constitutional functionary, cannot be directed to first decide on the resignations of the MLAs and thereafter the pending disqualification applications. The chief minister is due to face a trust vote on Thursday and his government could collapse ahead of it if the resignations of the rebel MLAs are accepted by the Speaker.

 A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said it was not restraining the Speaker from deciding the disqualification but was only asking him to ascertain whether the rebel MLAs voluntarily resigned. The bench, also comprising Justices Deepak Gupta and Aniruddha Bose, also said the apex court had given a "very high status" to the Speaker while interpreting the anti-defection law decades ago and "probably that needs a re-look after so many years." The bench said there are rival submissions on the issue of resignation and disqualification of MLAs and "we will do the required balancing." The ruling coalition's strength in the House is 117-- Congress 78, JD(S) 37, BSP 1, and nominated 1, besides the Speaker. With the support of the two independents who have withdrawn support, the opposition BJP has 107 MLAs in the 225-member House, including the nominated MLA and Speaker.