A three-judge bench of the apex court also directs that only a pro-tem speaker be elected to hold the floor test according to the rules of the house.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court Friday directed that a floor test be held on 19 May before 4 pm in the Karnataka assembly for chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa to prove his majority.
“We will decide the larger question on whether the governor was right in inviting the single largest party over the post-poll alliance claiming majority later. But the floor test will have to happen immediately to balance the equity,” a three-judge bench of the court said.
On 17 May, the same bench had declined to stay Yeddyurappa’s swearing-in after the Congress and JD(S) moved the court at midnight challenging the governor’s invitation to the BJP to form the government.
Justices A.K. Sikri, S.A. Bobde and Ashok Bhushan also directed that only a pro-tem speaker can be elected to hold the floor test according to the rules of the house. Significantly, the court also restrained governor Vajubhai Vala from nominating any member to the house or take any major policy decisions.
Additional solicitor general Tushar Mehta who appeared for the governor denied any move to appoint an Anglo Indian representative in the assembly.
“He’s held a cabinet meeting with himself and announced a farm loan waiver of over 1 lakh crore,” Congress leader and senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi told the court.
Letters exchanged between Yeddyurappa and Vala
Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi appearing today for Yeddyurappa and two other unnamed BJP MLAs told the court that Yeddyurappa had written to the governor on 15 May claiming majority. Between 15 and 17 May, he wrote to the governor thrice.
“He has clearly said he is the leader of the single largest party and has support from other parties and form the government,” he said, submitting the letters to the court in a sealed envelope.
However, neither Yeddyurappa in that letter nor his lawyer in court revealed the names of members of Congress and JD(S) who are allegedly extending support to the BJP.
“In this atmosphere of suspicion, we cannot name them. The other side has locked up their MLAs in a resort in Kochi and it is our argument that they have been detained and threatened,” Rohatgi said. “In any case, majority has to be proved on the floor of the house and not in court or before the governor. The final proof of the pudding is on the floor of the house,” he added.
Technicalities in BJP’s way
Singhvi, however, contested Yeddyurappa’s first letter to the governor saying that it was written before the Election Commission had notified the official numbers in the gazette.
“The EC notification came on 16 May. When he wrote to the governor, claiming majority, he did not know how many seats they had. How could the governor have decided in his favour then?” Singhvi asked.
Congress leader and senior advocate Kapil Sibal who appeared for JD(S) leader H.D. Kumaraswamy also argued that “there is no such thing as discretion for a constitutional authority”.
The court agreed, saying that legally such discretion is reserved for tough cases and not in cases like the one at present where the “facts speak for themselves.”
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