Supreme Court order gives a big jolt to HD Kumaraswamy

New Delhi/Bengaluru: Six days after Karna-taka Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy announced that he would be seeking a trust vote despite the resignation of 16 Congress and JD(S) legislators, the Janata Dal(S)-Congress coalition government will on Thursday face the biggest challenge of its 14-month tenure after the Supreme Court ruled that the rebel MLAs cannot be compelled to participate in the House proceedings.

“We make it clear that until further orders, the 15 members ought not to be compelled to participate in the proceedings of the ongoing session of the House and an option should be given to them that they can take part in the proceedings or opt to remain out of the same,” a Supreme Court bench said. This decision means that any whip issued to make the rebels participate in the Assembly and support the coalition government when the confidence motion is put to vote will not apply to them.

In such a situation, the Opposition BJP, which has the support of 107 MLAs (105 of its own and two Independents), enjoys a clear edge over the JD(S)-Congress coalition, which has seen its numbers fall from 118 to 101 (which includes the Speaker). Of the 16 MLAs who resigned, 13 are from the Congress and three from the JD(S).

Only 15 MLAs approached the Supreme Court seeking an early decision on their resignations, with former home minister Rama-linga Reddy being the lone MLA who did not.

In an interesting development, Mr Reddy met the Speaker and withdrew his resignation, boosting the coalition numbers to 102, amid speculation that both parties had stepped up efforts to woo some of their members back.

The Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, which also included Justices Deepak Gupta and Aniruddha Bose, however, gave Assembly Speaker K.R. Ramesh Kumar the freedom to decide on the resignation of the 15 MLAs within a timeframe considered appropriate by him.

The Speaker, on his part, welcomed the court decision. "The Supreme Court has put an extra burden on me, I will conduct myself responsibly in accordance with constitutional principles," he told reporters in Kolar, his hometown, adding: “My role is like that of an umpire (in a cricket match). If it is a no ball... I will say no ball. It is very difficult to say what will happen on Thursday.”

The rebels MLAs, now camping in Mumbai, hailed the decision and said there was no question of going back on their resignations from the Assembly or attending the session, further diminishing any hope the coalition had of pacifying them and getting them to vote in favour of the confidence motion to be moved by Mr Kumaraswamy. In a video released to the media, rebel

Congress MLA B.C. Patil said: “We are happy with the decision of the Supreme Court, we honour it.:

Flanked by 11 other Congress-JD(S) MLAs who have quit, the Congress legislator said: “We all are together... there is no question of going back (on the resignations).”