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The Supreme Court on Wednesday said the discretion of the Karnataka Assembly Speaker in deciding on the resignation of 15 rebel legislators should not be fettered by a direction or observations of court, adding the MLAs cannot be compelled to attend the house proceedings tomorrow.
Here are all the live updates:
4:10 PM: Karnataka Assembly Speaker K.R. Ramesh Kumar on Wednesday said he would follow the Supreme Court's order that the 15 rebel legislators of the ruling Congress-JD-S allies cannot be compelled to participate in the proceedings of the House on Thursday for floor test on trust vote.
2:40 PM: Congress Randeep Surjewala: Blanket protection to MLAs, who are driven not by ideology but by far baser concerns, is unheard-of. Tragic that SC didn't appreciate the context & designed history of defections to subvert democratic mandates by Modi government over the last five years. Supreme Court should recall own judgement of May 2016 striking down the illegal attempt of BJP in Uttarakhand to form the government.
2:35 PM: Congress' chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala: SC's order nullifying the whip & by extension, operation of Constitution’s Xth Schedule to punish MLAs betraying the public mandate, sets a terrible judicial precedent. Does this mean (that the) Court can interfere with the working of the State Legislature by deciding when a whip will be enforced? Abandonment of the ‘Basic Structure’ doctrine of Separation of Powers?
12:22 PM: BJP leader Jagadish Shettar said, "There is anarchy in the state because of HD Kumaraswamy. He should resign immediately after this verdict and not wait for the trust vote."
12:20 PM: BJP's GVL Narasimha Rao: SC in its final judgement will have to create timelines for Speakers to decide a matter be it Assembly or Parliament. If required we'll look at the need for amending the act so that Speakers can't go by their own whims and fancies.
12:00 PM: Rebel Karnataka MLAs in Mumbai: We honour the Supreme Court's verdict. We all are together. We stand by our decision. There is no question of going to the Assembly.
11:18 AM: Former Chief Minister of Karnataka BJP's BS Yeddyurappa said, "Karnataka CM has lost his mandate, when there is no majority he must resign tomorrow. I welcome SC's decision, it's the victory of constitution&democracy, a moral victory for rebel MLAs. It's only an interim order, SC will decide powers of Speaker in future."
11:15 AM: Karnataka Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar: With utmost humility, I welcome and respect the Supreme Court decision. I will take a decision that in no way will go contrary to the Constitution, the Court and the Lokpal.
11:05 AM: The Speaker has been given time to decide on the resignations as and when he wants to decide: Mukul Rohatgi
11:05 AM: The three-line whip issued by the Congress against them (rebel MLAs) to attend the House tomorrow is not operative in view of the SC judgement.
11:00 AM: Speaking to reporters outside the Supreme Court, senior lawyer Mukul Rohatgi, representing 15 rebel MLAs, said that according to the interim order, rebel MLAs cannot be compelled to attend the proceedings in the Karnataka Assembly tomorrow which is slated to decide the confidence motion moved by the H D Kumaraswamy-led state government on July 18. "They have the liberty to attend or not attend the House tomorrow," he said.
10:56 AM: Larger legal questions need to be decided and deserve an answer at a later stage, Supreme Court.
10:52 AM: The Supreme Court says the discretion of Karnataka Assembly Speaker in deciding resignation should not be fettered by direction or observations of court.
10:39 AM: Imperative to maintain Constitutional balance, the Supreme Court passes an interim order. Speaker to decide on resignation of 15 MLAs within an appropriate time frame. These 15 MLAs cannot be compelled to participate in proceedings of Assembly till Speaker decides, SC.
10:35 AM: Judges have arrived in the court to deliver their verdict on the resignation of rebel Karnataka MLAs.
9:35 AM: Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi-led bench is expected to pronounce its verdict in the case at 10:30 in the morning.
