SC upholds disqualification of 17 Karnataka MLAs; paves way to contest by-polls

The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the disqualification of 17 Congress-JD(S) MLAs in Karnataka by the then Assembly Speaker but paved the way for them to contest the December 5 by-polls on 15 seats in the state.

While upholding their disqualification, the apex court set aside the portion of the orders by the then speaker K R Ramesh Kumar by which the legislators were disqualified till the end of the 15th Karnataka Legislative Assembly's term in 2023.

A bench of justices N V Ramana, Sanjiv Khanna and Krishna Murari said it is clear that the Speaker, in exercise of his powers under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution, "does not have the power to either indicate the period for which a person is disqualified, or to bar someone contesting elections".

"We must be careful to remember that the desirability of a particular rule or law, should not in any event be confused with the question of existence of the same, and constitutional morality should never be replaced by political morality, in deciding what the Constitution mandates," the bench said in its 109-page judgement.

The court said there is a growing trend of Speakers acting against the "constitutional duty of being neutral" in addition to political parties indulging in horse trading and corrupt practices due to which citizens are being denied stable governments.

The Speaker, being a neutral person, is expected to act independently while conducting the proceedings of the House or adjudication petitions, it said.

The constitutional responsibility endowed upon the Speaker has to be scrupulously followed and his political affiliations cannot come in the way of adjudication, the apex court said, adding, there is a need to consider strengthening certain aspects so that such "undemocratic practices" are discouraged and checked.

Regarding the maintainability of the petitions filed by the disqualified lawmakers challenging the then speaker's orders, the bench said the writ jurisdiction is one of the valuable rights provided under Article 32 of the Constitution, which in itself forms part of the basic structure.

Referring to a previous Constitution bench judgement, the court said, "We do not find any explicit or implicit bar to adjudicate the issue under the writ jurisdiction of this court."