The Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday upheld the decision of former Karnataka Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar to disqualify the 17 rebel MLAs from the Assembly. However, the apex court maintained that the Speaker does not have the power to bar the disqualified MLAs from contesting the by-elections, bringing relief to the MLAs.
A total of 17 disqualified Congress and JD (S) MLAs of Karnataka had challenged the orders of the then Assembly speaker Kumar to disqualify them and had approached the apex court.
The court also added that it doesn't appreciate the manner in which the petitioners approached the court. Interim orders were passed by the coordinate bench. The SC had completed hearing in October 2019 but the apex court had reserved its verdict.
