SC to pronounce verdict in Karnataka rebel MLAs resignation case today

The Supreme Court will pronounce today its judgement on Karnataka's rebel MLAs' plea in their resignation case. The Apex Court reserved its judgement after a day-long hearing in the case yesterday.

Senior advocate A M Singhvi, appearing for the Karnataka Assembly speaker, told a bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi that the speaker will decide on both disqualification and resignation of the rebel MLAs by today but the court should modify its earlier order regarding maintaining the status quo.

Earlier, senior advocate Mukul Rohtagi, appearing for the rebel MLAs, told the apex court that the speaker can be directed to decide on the resignation of these MLAs by today itself and he can later take a call on the disqualification proceedings. 

He argued that the speaker cannot keep the resignations pending and by doing so he is acting in a partisan manner.

Countering his submissions, Singhvi told the bench, which also had Justices Deepak Gupta and Aniruddha Bose, that



speaker cannot be asked to decide the matter in a time-bound manner.

The rebel MLAs had earlier told the court that the state government has been reduced to a minority and the Speaker by not accepting their resignations has attempted coercing them to vote for the government during the trust vote.

10 rebel MLAs had moved the apex court on 10th of this month alleging that the Karnataka Assembly Speaker was deliberately not accepting their resignations. Five more legislators submitted the plea last Saturday seeking identical relief. 

The top court on 12th restrained the Speaker from taking any decision till July 16 on the resignation and disqualification of the rebel MLAs. The court had said an incidental question that would arise in the matter is the kind and extent of the directions that should be issued by a constitutional court to another constitutional functionary, which in the present case happens to be the Speaker of the Assembly.