Hearing on disqualified Karnataka’s MLAs deferred

Bangalore : The Karnataka High Court on Monday deferred till Oct 20 the hearing on the disqualification case of rebel MLAs of the state’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as the division bench of the court differed on opinion.

The division bench of the High Court also referred the case of five Independent MLAs who were also disqualified by the Assembly Speaker to another bench and the hearing would be on Nov 2.

The Court was expected to deliver its judgement on the disqualification of 16 legislators by the Speaker, a ruling crucial for the continuance of the BJP led government in the state which proved its majority twice in the House in the past week but remained in the danger zone pending the court outcome.

Speaker K G Bopaiah hours before vote of confidence moved by Chief Minster BS Yeddyurappa to prove his majority in the House on October 11 had sacked the 16 MLAs, 11 of BJP and five Independents, which has been challenged in the high court.

State Governor H R Bhardwaj not satisfied with the process of voice vote method vote of confidence in the absence of s16 “rebel” lawmakers had asked Yeddyurappa to seek trust vote within 72 hours and the BJP ruled coalition won by 106 against 100 votes.

The court said the outcome of the trust vote on Oct 14 will be subject to its final decision on the MLAs.

The BJP government won the vote of confidence with 106 out of a total strength of 208 eligible voters in the House following the disqualification of 16 MLAs.

The full strength of the Assembly is 224.

The court will decide whether the 16 MLAs were correctly banned by the Speaker of the House from participating in the trust vote. Without them, the numbers in the Karnataka Assembly tilted in the BJP’s favour.

The Speaker disqualified the MLAs under anti-defection laws after they withdrew their support to the government on Oct 6.