Fight for Karnataka | Supreme Court bench refuses to defer BS Yeddyurappa's swearing-in, pushes Congress-JD(S) petition matter to May 18
With Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala inviting BJP to form the government, BS Yeddyurappa will take oath as the state's 23rd Chief Minister on Thursday, 17 May 2018.
Published: 16th May 2018 12:01 PM | Last Updated: 17th May 2018 11:00 AM | A+A A-
The Supreme Court of India (ANI Twitter Photo)
The Karnataka power tussle turned into a midnight courtroom battle in the capital as the Supreme Court heard a petition by the Congress-JD(S) combine challenging Governor Vajubhai Vala's decision to invite BJP's B S Yeddyurappa to form the government. The Congress termed the move to form a BJP government in Karnataka as "illegal and against the law and Constitution".
CJI Dipak Misra agreed to a midnight hearing as the Congress-JD(S) said Yeddyurappa's swearing in as the state's 23rd Chief Minister was taking place as early as 9 AM today and there was very little time left for it. Lawyers Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Tushar Mehta, Mukul Rohatgi argued for the Congress-JD(S), the union government and the BJP, respectively.
The three-judge SC bench pushed the matter to 10:30 am on Friday after a three-and-a-half hour pre-dawn hearing. It refused to stay BSY's oath-taking and directed him to produce the letter written to the Governor on May 15 where he staked his claim to form government. The petition will be taken up for later hearing and it shall depend on the outcome of the case, it said.
The petition by Congress-JD(S) contended that despite presenting the list of 116 MLAs, governor Vala has invited the BJP which has 104 MLAs to form the government and has given relatively longer time of 15 days to prove the majority on the floor of the House, alleging that it will promote horse trading and poaching of their MLAs. [Read full report HERE]
