Disqualification of 17 rebel K’taka legislators upheld

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, November 13

The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld Karnataka Speaker’s decision to disqualify 17 rebel MLAs of Congress and JD(S), but allowed them to contest the December 5 bypolls to 15 Assembly seats in the state.

A three-judge Bench headed by Justice NV Ramana struck down a part of the then Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar’s order by which he had disqualified the MLAs till the end of the term of the current state Assembly in 2023.

“In light of the existing constitutional mandate, the Speaker is not empowered to disqualify any member till the end of the term,” the top court said. The Bench, which also included Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Krishna Murari, made it clear that, if elected in the bypolls, the disqualified MLAs can become ministers or hold public offices. It said its decision was based on facts and circumstance of the case and does not interfere in the Speaker’s power to disqualify members.

Commenting on the role of Speaker, it said, “There is a growing trend of the Speaker acting against the constitutional duty of being neutral. Further horse-trading and corrupt practices associated with defection and change of loyalty for lure of office or wrong reasons have not abated. Thereby the citizens are denied stable governments.”

The top court said, “In these circumstances, there is need to consider strengthening certain aspects, so that such undemocratic practices are discouraged and checked.”

Bypolls to 15 of the 17 Assembly seats which fell vacant following the disqualification of the MLAs are scheduled on December 5 and candidates are required to file their nomination papers between November 11 and November 18.

The verdict came on petitions filed by the disqualified MLAs challenging the orders of the then Speaker to disqualify them. Kumar disqualified the 17 legislators—14 from the Congress and three from the JD(S)—ahead of the trust vote on July 23. 

The then Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy had resigned after losing the trust vote, which paved the way for the BJP-led government in the state under BS Yediyurappa.

The disqualified MLAs are: Pratap Gowda Patil, BC Patil, Shivram Hebbar, ST Somashekar, Byrati Basavaraj, Anand Singh, R Roshan Baig, N Munirathna, K Sudhakar and MTB Nagaraj, Shrimant Patil, Ramesh Jarkiholi, Mahesh Kumatalli and R Shankar (all Congress). JD(S) members who faced action are K Gopalaiah, AH Vishwanath and KC Narayana Gowda.

The BJP had a smooth sailing in winning the trust vote on July 29, as the disqualification of the 17 Congress-JD(S) MLAs by the Speaker reduced the effective strength of the Assembly to 208. 

All set to join BJP today, says Yedi

Bengaluru, November 13 

Hours after the Supreme Court verdict paved the way for the disqualified Congress-JD(S) MLAs in Karnataka to contest the December 5 bypolls, Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa said the legislators would be joining the BJP on Thursday.  The state BJP’s core committee met here and discussed candidates for the bypolls to 15 of the 17 vacant seats, but took no decision. Yediyurappa said the disqualified MLAs had expressed their intention to join the party on Thursday. “They will be given membership.” — PTI