The Supreme Court declined an urgent hearing on July 22 to two independent Karnataka MLAs seeking a direction to the Speaker and the State government to conclude the ongoing trust vote in the Legislative Assembly on or before 5 p.m. on July 22.
A Bench led by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi is likely to schedule the application, including a plea for impleadment, of legislators, R. Shankar and H. Nagesh, represented by advocate Diksha Rai, for July 23.
The two legislators contended that the “minority” Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) coalition government led by Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy was taking “frenzied” executive decisions such as transferring police officers, IAS officers and other key officials.
The legislators said they had reliable information that Mr. Kumaraswamy intended to “make himself scarce from the proceedings on 22.7.19”
“It has been reliably learnt that in a desperate attempt to avoid the trust vote, the Chief Minister may also rake up an emergent situation and use medical emergencies, including hospitalisation, to avoid the trust vote,” the application said.
The legislators referred to how Governor Vajubhai Vala had raised concerns in his letters to the House about horse-trading orchestrated by the ruling coalition.
The application would be mentioned for urgent hearing before the Chief Justice of India on July 23.
The court may also simultaneously see the Congress and JD(S) party leaders mention their separate applications seeking clarification on how the court, last week, allowed 15 rebel legislators to opt out of the trust vote, and thus, cripple the parties’ constitutional right to initiate disqualification proceedings under the Tenth Schedule or anti-reflection law. The Congress has also accused the Governor of interfering in the confidence motion by pushing for a deadline.
The Governor had twice written to the House to conclude the trust vote, initially by 1.30 p.m. and, if not by 6 p.m., on July 19. But the letters did not have its desired effect and the trust vote was adjourned to July 22.
The Independent legislators said “about 16 MLAs” of the ruling coalition had tendered their resignation.
“Democratic principles dictate that the government has to command the majority of the Legislative Assembly. The same is part of the basic structure of the Constitution, which is being violated with impunity... Government led by Sri H. D. Kumaraswamy is a minority government,” the two MLAs said.
They alleged that the “trust vote is not being conducted despite the government being in a minority”.
They said the Governor sent his communications to the House on realising that the “minority government” planned to continue the vote of confidence motion “indefinitely”. His communications were “in order to uphold the highest democratic traditions and parliamentary practice.”
