2 Independent K'taka MLAs seek withdrawal of plea seeking forthwith floor test from SC

Two Karnataka Independent MLAs on Wednesday (July 24) urged the Supreme Court to allow them to withdraw their plea seeking its direction to the state assembly Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar to conduct “forthwith” floor test on a trust motion moved by the HD Kumaraswamy government.

The Congress-JD(S) coalition government on Tuesday (July 23) lost the trust motion on the floor of the House. A bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices Deepak Gupta and Aniruddha Bose was told by the counsel for lawmakers R Shankar and H Nagesh that they wanted to withdraw the petition in view of the recent development.

“Where is Mukul Rohatgi (counsel for the lawmakers)? Where is AM Singhvi (counsel for the Speaker)?” the bench said. It said that it will pass the order only in the presence of the senior counsel.

Also read: BJP’s Karnataka coup shows no govt safe, anti-defection act in coma

On Tuesday, Speaker Kumar had told the court that voting on the trust motion was likely to be concluded by the evening. During voting that evening, the confidence motion moved by Kumaraswamy was defeated with 99 members voting for the motion and 105 against it a House with an effective strength of 205 members.

Twenty members, including the two Independent MLAs, skipped the proceedings. The Independent MLAs had moved the apex court saying that the state has plunged into a political crisis after they withdrew their support to the JD(S)-Congress government and 16 lawmakers of the ruling coalition tendered their resignations.

“It is submitted that the trust vote is not being conducted despite the government being in minority. It is submitted that a minority government, which does not have the confidence of the majority, is being allowed to continue in office,” they said in their plea to the court.

Also read: In Karnataka’s game of ‘karma’, a 5 star CM, an old man in haste

“The petitioners have been constrained to invoke the extraordinary jurisdiction of this court under Article 32 of the Constitution of India seeking a direction from this court to conduct a floor test forthwith in the Karnataka Assembly,” they added.

The legislators had accused the government of taking advantage of the logjam and taking several executive decisions like transferring police officers, IAS officers, other officials. Their petition was filed after Kumaraswamy and Karnataka state Congress president Dinesh Gundu Rao had moved the top court, accusing Governor Vajubhai Vala of interfering with assembly proceedings during the debate on trust vote.

Kumaraswamy and Rao had also sought a clarification of the July 17 order of the apex court by which the 15 rebel Congress-JD(S) MLAs were granted relief that they cannot be compelled to participate in the assembly proceedings.