The Supreme Court (SC) gave its verdict regarding the petition filed by the 15 rebel Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) against K.R. Ramesh Kumar, the Karnataka Assembly Speaker.
On the 17th of July, the SC continued the hearing which was adjourned on the 16th of July and said, the Speaker is not bound to take any decision within a time frame.
The decision came after Abhishek Manu Sanghvi, the advocate representing Ramesh Kumar, said, the Speaker will not be able to decide about the resignations immediately as it takes time.
A bench of three, led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi, said, “The Karnataka assembly should decide on resignation of 15 rebel MLAs within a reasonable time frame and leave it for the speaker to take a call on the issue.”
Ramesh Kumar welcomed the decision of the SC and said, he will not disappoint the Apex Court and will make a decision regarding the resignation as per the constitutional laws.
On the other hand, the rebel MLAs are also happy as they do not have to attend the no confidence motion, scheduled on the 18th of July. This is because the SC said, the MLAs cannot be forced to attend Assembly sessions.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP,) who will benefit the most if the MLAs’ resignation is accepted, said, the Karnataka Government will collapse after tomorrow’s trust vote.
The BJP leader also demanded the resignation of H.D. Kumaraswamy, the Chief Minister of Karnataka.
The no confidence motion will be conducted during the Assembly session of Karnataka, which is scheduled to start again on the 18th of July.
Stay tuned for further updates.
