SC agrees to hear impleading petition in K'taka rebel MLAs case

The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear an impleading petition by five Karnataka rebel MLAs in the case relating to early decision by Assembly Speaker K R Ramesh Kumar.

A division bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi said that the court would like to hear the case tomorrow, along with the main petition pending before it.

Appearing for the five rebel MLAs, former Attorney General (AG) and senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, mentioned an application for impleadment in the Karnataka crisis before the Apex Court today.

The Supreme Court had earlier taken up the petitions of 10 dissident MLAs and directed the Speaker to maintain the status quo on their resignation and disqualification till July 16.

The five rebel MLAs - K Sudhakar, Roshan Baig, MTB Nagaraj, Muniratna and Anand Singh - had approached the Court on Saturday contending they had resigned "voluntarily" and that their resignation must be accepted by the Assembly Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar.

"The disqualification proceedings are being used to threaten and intimidate the MLAs. On one hand, the Speaker is not acting upon the resignation and on the other, a whip has been issued threatening disqualification for failure to attend the legislature proceeding starting July 12," the petition stated.

The plea also submitted that their resignations were in "accordance with Rule 202 of the Rules of Procedure and the Conduct of Business of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly.

The 13-month-old Congress-JD(S) government had slumped into crisis ever since 10 MLAs resigned from the membership of the state Assembly on July 6.