The future course of Karnataka politics may be decided on Monday by a three-judge bench of the high court comprising Justices Abdul Nasir, Mohan Shanthan Goudar and A S Bopanna. The bench will deliver a verdict on the validity of the suspension of five independent Members of Legislative Assembly by Speaker K G Bopaiah.
When 16 MLAs, 11 from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, had rebelled against the party, the Speaker had suspended them citing the anti-defection law.
The state witnessed a few days of intense political upheavals, including two trust votes and relentless bickering between Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa and Governor H R Bharadwaj. The suspended MLAs decided to challenge the verdict before the high court
After a division bench of the high court gave divergent views on the suspension of the 11 BJP MLAs, the legislators approached the Supreme Court.
The case of the five independent MLAs was heard by a three-judge bench of the Karnataka high court and the bench had reserved its order on the case last week.
If the court revokes the suspension of these MLAs, the strength of the House will go up to 213, which means BJP will need 107 MLAs to survive. Currently, the BJP has the support of 105 MLAs and the Speaker's vote will be sought in case of a tie. The party will need to garner the support of two more legislators to survive.
The BJP will bank heavily on the vote of Varthur Prakash, an independent MLA who had voted in their favour during the last trust vote.
The BJP is also counting on the notice served to 8 MLAs by the Speaker for unruly behaviour, which has been kept in abeyance. If the Speaker suspends these MLAs for a period of one year for disrupting proceedings of the House, they will not be able to participate in a trust vote.
A S Ponnanna, counsel for the five independent MLAs, told the court that the legislators were never part of the ruling party; they were only part of the government.
"We never lost our independent status. It was wrong on the part of the speaker to suspend us. We are hopeful that the court order will be in our favour," said one of the MLAs.
Countering this argument, Vivek Reddy, the lawyer representing the speaker and BJP, says, "I think we have a winning case and we hope that the court will do justice in the matter. Our argument was that the five independents had become part of the party since they took part in the legislature meetings. They also accepted party whips and voted in accordance with the whips several times. The real purpose of defection is to ensure that the people's mandate is not defeated."
Meanwhile, a special court is hearing arguments about the admissibility of a land scam case against Yeddyurappa.
Political observers believe that if the court allowed the case to go on, the CM may dissolve the House following the budget session on February 24.
Governor Bharadwaj had infuriated the BJP by acting on two petitions and granting the sanction to prosecute the CM in connection with a land scam.
