The monsoon session of Karnataka Legislature began on Friday with Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy seeking time for a trust vote.
After a spate of resignations which are still under scrutiny by the Assembly Speaker, the Congress-JD(S) coalition has a strength of 100 MLAs, five fewer than the BJP.
Here are the updates:
Rayaraddi speaks about possibility of habeus corpus writ for rebel MLAs
Speaking to the press in Hubballi on Fruday, Former Minister and Congress leader Basavaraj Rayaraddi has spoken about the possibility of moving a habeus corpus application before the court with regard to the disgruntled MLAs who are now in Mumbai.
Mr. Rayaraddi termed the incident as a case of illegal confinement and said that there was possibility of approaching the court to seek directions to make the rebels attend the legislature session.
He was also of the opinion that the Speaker could reject all the resignations based on the ongoing developments.
CM of Karnataka says he will seek trust vote
Amidst the ongoing political crisis in Karnataka, Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy has said in the House that he would seek trust vote.
"In the light of various developments, I have deciding on seeking trust vote," said the chief minister. He sought time from the Speaker to do the same.
The legislature session began on Friday, even as Karnataka is gripped by a political crisis with 16 Congress and JDS MLAs submitting their resignations. A case related to the resignations is pending before the Supreme Court. The Apex Court heard the case today and adjourned it to Tuesday.
Supreme Court restrains Speaker
After hearing the arguments, the Bench directs Karnataka Speaker to maintain status quo as of Friday with regard to resignation and disqualification of 10 rebel MLAs.
The Supreme Court says it will hear matter further on July 16.
In Supreme Court, the counsel of Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy alleges that the order on resignations was passed without issuing notice to Speaker.
MLAs in plea have levelled corruption allegations and order was passed without hearing me, the counsel pleading on behalf of Karnataka CM tells the Bench
Senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan, appearing for Mr. Kumaraswamy, tells the court that one of the rebel MLAs was involved in Ponzi scheme for which government is being accused of.
The Speaker was not served copy of petition and the plea was controverted by rebel MLAs, Mr. Singhvi says.
SC commences hearing on plea of 10 rebel Karnataka MLAs
K.R. Ramesh Kumar
The Supreme Court has commenced hearing on plea of 10 rebel Karnataka MLAs seeking acceptance of their resignations by Assembly Speaker.
Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the MLAs, says the Speaker has not taken decision on resignations. He claims the idea behind keeping resignation issue alive and pending is to bind the MLAs to party whip.
Does the Speaker have power to challenge SC order, CJI Ranjan Gogoi asks Speaker’s counsel. Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for the Speaker, refers to provisions and says he holds constitutional post.
Rebel MLAs say the Speaker questioned their move to approach SC and said “go to hell” to them in front of media. Mr. Singhvi intervenes. "Speaker is very senior member of Assembly, he knows Constitutional law. He can’t be maligned, lampooned like this," Mr. Singhvi says.
Speaker can be given one or two days to decide on resignations. If he does not decide, contempt notice can be issued against him, MLAs' counsel argues.
In the meantime, Congress has clarified Youth Congress hasn't been invloved in any petition related to the rebel MLAs' plea in the Supreme Court. KPCC president Dinesh Gundu Rao also tweeted saying there is no organisation called KPCC Youth wing.
Only obituary reference today
Karnataka Legislative Assembly has listed only "obituary reference" in the list of business for the day. The Legislative Assembly will assemble in the afternoon and will pay homage to former legislators and eminent personalities who passed away since February when the Assembly last met. The Assembly is usually adjourned for the day as a mark of respect to the departed souls.
BJP awaits SC ruling
The opposition BJP is awaiting a Supreme Court ruling on the petitions of the 10 rebel MLAs and the Karnataka Assembly Speaker on their resignations for its next move against the coalition government.
“We are waiting for the Supreme Court verdict on the petitions of the rebel legislators and the Speaker’s plea for more time to decide on their resignations as hearing on them is scheduled later in the day for our next move in the Assembly,” Bharatiya Janata Party spokesman G. Madhusudana told IANS.
Anil Chacko Joseph, a Bengaluru resident, seeks to intervene in Supreme Court on Karnataka rebel MLAs' plea. He says en masse resignation by Karnataka MLAs is a mockery of their electorate. They cannot be voted for one ideology and later join an ideology diametrically opposite.
The apex court allowed Mr. Chacko to be heard as intervenor in the matter.
— Krishnadas Rajagopal
Will they, won’t they?
As 20 MLAs had skipped the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting on Monday, it would be interesting to watch whether a group of them, allegedly staying at a hotel in Mumbai at the behest of the BJP since Saturday last, would attend the session or not on Friday. The whip issued by Ganesh Hukkeri (Congress) is virtually a warning to the MLAs that they would be disqualified under the Anti-Defection Law if they skipped the legislature proceedings.
Though the Lower House listed its Friday’s agenda as “official” business, the House is unlikely to run smoothly, given the charged political atmosphere in the State. Members of the governing and Opposition parties are expected to indulge in sloganeering and blame each other for the ongoing political stalemate, unless the House is adjourned after the obituary reference.
