The 11 disqualified BJP MLAs in Karnataka on Friday said they would challenge in the Supreme Court the High Court ruling which upheld the Speaker’s order.
“We will challenge the Karnataka High Court order in the Supreme Court after going through the contents of the judgment. We will explore whatever options are available to us in law,” A.S. Ponnana, one of the counsel for the petitioners, told PTI.
Meanwhile, senior counsel for Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa, Satyapal Jain, said he “welcomes the judgement of the Karnataka High Court, which is the first judgement on anti-defection law from this honourable court.”
The order, he said has “upheld the spirit behind the anti defection law, which was unanimously passed by the Parliament. It gives a green signal to all elected representatives — MPs and MLAs — that you have to fall in line with the majority and unanimous view of the party concerned and in case you differ from that, the only option before you is to resign from the party, the seat and seek fresh election from the electorate.”
“You cannot remain in the party and hobnob with other political parties”, Mr. Jain said.
He said the judgement “will go a long way” in upholding parliamentary democracy. “It will discourage defection and encourage collective wisdom of the party in parliamentary democracy“.
On MLAs challenging the court order, Mr. Jain said “I am sure, if they approach the Supreme Court, they will lose the case”.
