The political situation in Karnataka remains every bit as tense as it is uncertain with the Congress-JDS government here facing a massive threat. A number of MLAs from both parties had tendered their resignation and while these have not been accepted by Speaker Ramesh Kumar, it has not deterred the rebels from maintaining a tough stance.
The dissenting MLAs had moved Supreme Court last week against the Karnataka Assembly Speaker, accusing him of deliberately delaying a decision on their resignations. Ramesh Kumar had sought more time and the apex court had asked him to maintain status quo till the matter is heard by its three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi.
The battle for power back in Karnataka has been bitter to the core with BJP upping the pressure on the HD Kumaraswamy-led government. The BJP claims that Kumaraswamy ought to resign. The government will face a No-Confidence Motion on Thursday.
Here are the live and latest updates from Tuesday (July 16):
16 July 2019, 15:33 PM
Supreme Court will decide on Wednesday whether the court will first pass judgement on the resignation of rebel MLAs or the Assembly Speaker can go ahead with the process of disqualification of rebel MLAs. The verdict will have a direct bearing on the no-confidence vote scheduled to take place on Thursday.
16 July 2019, 15:26 PM
Supreme Court to pass order in Karnataka rebel MLAs case tomorrow at 10:30 am.
16 July 2019, 14:51 PM
“Speaker has acted in a mala fide manner, allegations levelled by rebel MLAs are wrong. The court should not entertain such kind of petition under Article 32 of the Constitution,” Dhawan tells SC.
16 July 2019, 14:29 PM
Rajeev Dhawan, appearing on behalf of Kumaraswamy in SC, takes aim at the dissenting MLAs. “It is the motive which is important. 11 people are hunting in a pack. They flew to Mumbai when they could have met the Speaker.”
16 July 2019, 13:26 PM
Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi counters Mukul Rohatgi, says “all cases of presentation of resignation only happened on July 11. Four MLAs who have moved a petition to resign haven’t even presented themselves before the Speaker.” Responding to him, Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi asks, “If the letters were given on July 6, what did Speaker do?”
16 July 2019, 13:24 PM
Mukul Rohatgi in Supreme Court: The Speaker can’t hold resignations for so many days. The rules states that it has to be decided soon.
16 July 2019, 11:51 AM
Rebel MLA Ramalinga Reddy says he will go the Vidhana Soudha on Thursday to participate in the floor test. He says that his resignation has not been accepted yet, reasons for resigning are internal.
16 July 2019, 11:50 AM
Supreme Court tells Rohatgi that it cannot direct Speaker on how to handle resignations of the MLAs. ” We cannot stop the Speaker or prohibit him,” says CJI Gogoi.
16 July 2019, 11:36 AM
“This is an attempt to scuttle their resignations. The Speaker is trying to make a decision on both the issues-resignation and disqualification-at the same time,” Mukul Rohatgi, representing the ten rebel MLAs who filed the petition, tells Supreme Court.
16 July 2019, 11:35 AM
BJP’s Pralhad Joshi has raised questions against Speaker Ramesh Kumar, says rebel MLAs were forced to approach Supreme Court.
16 July 2019, 11:34 AM
The Supreme Court had previously asked Speaker Ramesh Kumar to maintain status quo.
16 July 2019, 11:32 AM
All eyes are on the Supreme Court as a bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices Deepak Gupta and Aniruddha Bose begin hearing rebel MLA’s plea.
Prasanta Patnaik