The Supreme Court on Friday set aside the Karnataka Assembly Speaker's order disqualifying 11 BJP members, holding that the proceedings conducted by him on the disqualification application filed by Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa did not meet the twin tests of natural justice and fair play.
A Bench of Justices Altamas Kabir and Cyriac Joseph allowed the appeals by Balchandra L. Jarkiholi and 10 others against the Karnataka High Court orders upholding their disqualification.
“Extraneous considerations are writ large on the face of the order of the Speaker and the same has to be set aside. The Speaker, in our view, proceeded in the matter as if he was required to meet the deadline set by the Governor, irrespective of whether, in the process, he was ignoring the constitutional norms set out in the Tenth Schedule and the Disqualification Rules, 1986, and in contravention of the basic principles that go hand in hand with the concept of a fair hearing.”
Writing the judgment, Justice Kabir said that merely because these MLAs expressed a lack of confidence in Mr. Yeddyurappa it would not mean the Speaker was empowered to take action against them.
The Bench said the appellants, in their reply sent on October 9, 2010 to a show-cause, re-emphasised their position that they not only continued to be BJP members but would also support any government formed by the party headed by any leader other than Mr. Yeddyurappa.
The Bench said: “There was no compulsion on the Speaker to decide the disqualification application filed by Mr. Yeddyurappa in such a great hurry within the time specified by the Governor to conduct a vote of confidence in the government headed by Mr. Yeddyurappa. It would appear that such a course of action was adopted by the Speaker on October 10, 2010, since the vote of confidence was slated for October 12, 2010. The element of hot haste is also evident in the action of the Speaker. The procedure adopted by the Speaker seems to indicate that he was trying to meet the time schedule set by the Governor for the trial of strength and to ensure that the appellants and other independent MLAs stood disqualified prior to the date on which the floor test was to be held.”
Having concluded the hearing by 5 p.m. on October 10, the Speaker passed a detailed order that they stood disqualified, the Bench said. “The vote of confidence took place on October 11, in which the disqualified members could not participate and, in their absence Mr. Yeddyurappa was able to prove his majority in the House. Unless it was to ensure that the trust vote did not go against the Chief Minister, there was no conceivable reason for the Speaker to have taken up the disqualification application in such a great hurry.”
Explaining the provisions of the anti-defection law, the Bench said its object was to ensure that the Speaker acted absolutely impartially, without leaning towards any party including the party on whose ticket he was elected to the House.
Rejecting the contention that the 11 MLAs had by their action voluntarily given up the party membership, the Bench quashed the Speaker's order as well as the High Court judgment.
