Crucial test in Supreme Court for Yeddyurappa

A possibility is that the court would advance the date of the floor test and leave the party with the most number of members to form the government.

Karnataka : Bengaluru : 17/05/20018 : B S Yeddyurappa was administered the oath by Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala at Raj Bhavan during Swearing in Ceremony on 17 May 2018. Photo: V Sreenivasa Murthy

The Supreme Court on Thursday gave the Attorney-General 48 hours to produce the two letters written to the Governor by BJP leader B.S. Yeddyurappa.

The top law officer has to procure the documents from the Governor and produce them at 10.30 a.m. on May 18.

The letters, dated May 15 and 16, are the major focus of the Governor’s invitation, extended in the evening of May 16, to Mr. Yeddyurappa to form the government the next morning itself.

The three-judge Bench, led by Justice A.K. Sikri, wants to vet the contents of the letters, mainly to check whether the Governor’s decision was an informed one. In other words, the court wants to check whether Mr. Yeddyurappa submitted sufficient material for the Governor to have reasonably felt that he is the best option and not the Congress-JD(S) combine.

Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi voiced a complaint about how the Governor gave the BJP leader over 15 days to prove his majority. Mr. Singhvi indicated that Mr. Yeddyurappa asked for only seven days, but the Governor “generously” gave him 15 days. The ample time might allow the BJP to resort to “horse-trading” to gain the number.

Advance date

A possibility is that the court would advance the date of the floor test and leave the party with the most number of members to form the government. The BJP has 104 members, while the Congress-JD(S) combine has 117 members, well past the majority mark.

If, after the floor test, Mr. Yeddyurappa is unable to prove his majority, it will be incumbent on the Governor to invite the Congress-JD(S) combine to form the government.

Under the Sarkaria Commission’s report of 1988, if the single largest party fails, the next in the pecking order is a post-poll alliance. This is the formula endorsed by the Supreme Court in several judgments.

Mr. Singhvi asked whether the Governor had taken into consideration the fact that the Sarkaria Commission required the single largest party to have the support of other parties, including “Independents,” in order for them to get priority over a post-poll alliance to form the government.