Karnataka crisis: Speaker’s ruling triggers debate

BENGALURU: The decision of

speaker KR Ramesh Kumar

to disqualify 17 Congress-JD(S) rebel MLAs has kicked off debate on whether the order is contrary to Supreme Court directions.

The SC, acting on petitions filed by rebel MLAs seeking a direction to the speaker to accept their resignations, had ordered that rebel MLAs should not be forced to attend House proceedings and that they are free to attend or abstain. The court had also said it would decide the issue of whether disqualification has precedence over resignation.

However, speaker Kumar held that political parties are free to issue whips as it is a right conferred on them by the Constitution. The speaker’s ruling came after Congress Legislature Party leader Siddaramaiah, on the floor of the House, raised a point of order seeking clarity on whether the apex court curtailed his power to issue whip.

Many BJP leaders are now claiming that the speaker defied both directions by not only allowing both Congress and JD(S) to issue whips to rebel MLAs, but also disqualified them on charges of violation of whip. They also claim that when they submitted their resignations, there were no disqualification petitions pending against them.

“It is not right on the part of the speaker to disqualify rebel MLAs when there were no disqualification petitions pending against them at the time of submitting their resignations,” said Union minister Prahlad Joshi.

But the Congress claimed it had moved disqualification petitions against Ramesh Jarkiholi and Mahesh Kumatalli as early as February 2019. As for the remaining 10 rebels, the party claimed: “The rebels first submitted resignations on July 6 and the speaker held that they were not in a prescribed format. So, the rebels, armed with the Supreme Court direction, submitted fresh resignations on July 11. By then, the Congress Legislature Party Leader had moved disqualification petitions. So, technically speaking, the disqualification petitions were moved before the resignations.”

When asked if there were disqualification petitions pending against rebel MLAs — besides Jarkiholi and Kumatalli before they submitted resignations — the speaker said he has explained all these details in his order disqualifying rebels, copies of which will be made available in a day or two. “I have done my duty in a very transparent manner and I have tried to explain all questions that are in the minds of the people,” Kumar told TOI.