SC allows two Independent Karnataka MLAs to withdraw plea for floor test

The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed two Independent MLAs from Karnataka to withdraw their plea seeking a direction to state assembly Speaker K R Ramesh Kumar to conduct "forthwith" floor test on a trust motion moved by the H D Kumaraswamy government.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi took note of the submissions of the senior lawyers representing the speaker and Kumaraswamy that they have no objection to the withdrawal of the petition.

The bench comprising Justices Deepak Gupta and Aniruddha Bose then allowed the counsel for MLAs R Shankar and H Nagesh to withdraw the plea on the ground that it has now become infructuous after the floor test on Tuesday evening. The apex court expressed displeasure over the senior lawyers not-appearing before it for seeking the withdrawal of the plea.

"When you want an urgent listing, you come before us night, day or midnight. But when the court wants a counsel, he chooses not to appear," the bench observed.

The Congress-JD(S) coalition government in Karnataka headed by Kumaraswamy collapsed on Tuesday with 99 members voting for the motion and 105 against it in a House with an effective strength of 205 members.