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Speaker must accept our resignation, K’taka rebel MLAs tell Apex Court

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New Delhi: Ten rebel MLAs of the ruling Congress-JD(S) coalition Tuesday said in the Supreme Court that their resignations “have to be accepted” as there is no other way to deal with the present political crisis and contended that the Speaker has to see only if the resignation is voluntary or not.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi is first dealing with the case of 10 lawmakers who approached the court first.

Starting the argument, Senior advocate Mukul Rohtagi representing 10 MLAs told the apex court that there were instances wherein Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar accepted resignation first and then considered disqualification and cited the case of Umesh Jadhav.

“I am only submitting accept my resignation and then decide on disqualification but speaker by this way is infringing upon my right,” the lawyer said.

On CJIs query on what ground disqualification process was initiated against the MLAs, Rohtagi said, “because they were not acting like disciplined soldiers of the party and were not attending party meetings.”

“If I (MLA) resign, I can join another party and become a minister tomorrow but if disqualified, I have to wait for the by-election,” the lawyer added.

When CJI asked Rohtagi as to how the Assembly Speaker decides on resignation or disqualification petition, the senior advocate cited Article 190 by which if the MLA submits his resignation to the Speaker at his own wish, the speaker cannot force him against his wish.

“We can’t say how the Speaker should decide resignation or that disqualification of MLAs. We can’t fetter him. The question is whether the Speaker has any obligation to decide resignation before the disqualification, ” CJI Gogoi told Rohatgi.

Rohtagi replied to the apex bench by saying that there could be a million reasons to resign but it was the Speaker’s thinking that resignation was meant to favour another party.

“The fallacy of their argument is that it is based on my motive to resign which is completely irrelevant,” he said.

(Courtesy PTI)

 

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