Disqualified Karnataka MLAs approach high court

Bangalore, Oct 11 (IANS) A division bench of the Karnataka High Court will Monday afternoon hear a joint petition by 16 rebel legislators against their disqualification by Speaker K.G. Bopaiah ahead of the trust vote earlier in the day.

“The petition has been admitted and posted for hearing by the bench headed by Chief Justice K.S. Khehar and Justice Manjula Chellur at 3 p.m.,” an official of the court’s registrar office told IANS.

Of the 16 legislators disqualified, 11 are from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and five are independents. They jointly withdrew support to the 29-month-old tottering B.S. Yeddyurappa government Oct 6 and triggered the latest political crisis.

Though the rebel lawmakers rushed their lawyers to the residence of the chief justice for a stay on the speaker’s action before the assembly met at 10 a.m. for taking up the confidence motion, technical errors in the petition delayed its admission and they failed to get relief.

With the BJP government proving majority on the floor of the house by voice vote amid chaos and confusion after Yeddyurappa moved the confidence motion, the high-voltage political drama shifted to Raj Bhavan and the high court in the vicinity of Vidhana Soudha.

Governor H.R. Bhardwaj, who advised the speaker Sunday against disqualifying the rebel legislators, decided to wait for the outcome of the case in the high court and the report from the speaker before deciding on the next course of action.

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