They have questioned the authority of the governor in nominating the MLA to the house before the trust vote.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court has decided to hear urgently a fresh plea filed by the Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular) challenging Karnataka governor Vajubhai Vala’s purported nomination of an Anglo-Indian to the assembly.
The move could add to the legal woes of the newly-sworn in Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa.
The two parties Thursday moved the Supreme Court, for the second time within hours, to challenge the ataka governor’s move under Article 133 pending a floor test.
The fresh plea comes hours after the two parties failed to get a stay from the top court on Vala’s invitation to the BJP’s B.S. Yeddyurappa to take oath as chief minister.
In the application moved Thursday afternoon, which will be taken up Friday by the same bench that heard the midnight petitions, the two parties have challenged the authority of the governor in nominating the MLA to the house before the trust vote.
This, they have alleged, has been done to help the BJP and B.S. Yeddyurappa, now the chief minister, prove that they enjoy the confidence of the house when he faces a floor test 15 days from now.
According to sources, the application was mentioned before Justice A.K. Sikri, the most senior judge on the bench that heard the matter post-midnight. He directed that it be listed for hearing along with the main petition Friday morning.
The application states that since the governor has to act in the aid and advice of the council of ministers – as of now there is no council of ministers in the state, only a chief minister who is yet to prove his majority in the house – the MLA’s nomination was illegal and arbitrary and hence should be set aside.
Today, after a three-hour sitting that began post-midnight, the Supreme Court bench headed by Justice Sikri allowed the swearing-in of Yeddyurappa as chief minister but ordered that government formation will be subject to the court’s final decision.