NEW DELHI: Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy on Tuesday told the Supreme Court that the case is not about the Speaker versus the court.
He said it is between him and someone who wants to bring down the government and take over the CM’s seat.
Senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan appearing for the Karnatka CM told the bench, headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, “Resignations by the rebel Congress-JDS MLAs cannot only be about the intent but it has to be more about the motive. If the motive is to bring the government down, the Speaker is bound by the Constitution to conduct an inquiry. The Speaker has to be satisfied about voluntariness and genuineness of the resignations.”
Questioning the power of the apex court, Dhavan said, “It has no power to interfere in Speakers’ duties.
It exceeded jurisdiction by passing an interim order asking the Speaker to decide on the resignation of MLAs forthwith on July 11.
This court can interfere only after the decision is made, not before that. There is no scope of judicial review prior to the Speaker making a decision.”
On the argument put forward by MLAs on why the Speaker is keen on deciding on the disqualification pleas, Dhavan said, “Whether the resignations came first or the disqualifications isn’t important. The constitution doesn’t say what has to be decided first. This court has reproached ‘aaya Ram gaya ram’ while acknowledging the constitutional function of the Speaker. The only instance the court can interfere is when a decision of the Speaker is perverse.
"On Thursday there will be a no-confidence motion followed by budget in assembly. There will be a debate which can’t be a truncated one. Any order on maintaining status quo will mean total chaos and free run.”
Countering the arguments by the MLAs, Dhavan said, “In their arguments they clearly stated that once resignations are accepted they will later become ministers. So the motive is what the Speaker has to go into.”