Speaker can’t decide Siddaramaiah’s disqualification plea: Mukul Rohatgi

Bengaluru: Former attorney general of India Mukul Rohatgi, who is representing the ten rebel Congress MLAs in the Supreme Court, in the Speaker versus Legislators' case, has said that the threat of disqualification given by the Congress party to the MLAs may have no efficacy.

In his letter to another advocate, S. Padhi, on Saturday, he referred to the disqualification petition filed by CLP leader Siddaramaiah against two MLAs Ramesh Jarkiholi and Mahesh Kumathalli and said that the disqualification petition could not be enforced upon. “It is clear that no matter of disqualification whatsoever, in regard to 10 petitioners can be decided by the speaker. It is further clear that the matter of disqualification referred to by the court is not related or restricted to any particular petition for disqualification. It is also a matter of record that I had pointed out the matter of issue of whip dated July 11 which is annexed as a part of the Supreme Court record. The order of the Supreme Court restraining the speaker from deciding any disqualification cover the whip issued on July 11 also,” he said.

The comment assumes significance in the wake of the Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) holding out the threat of disqualification to the rebels with Mr Rohatgi’s note dispelling the fear of disqualification among MLAs even if they vote against the confidence motion to be moved by the chief minister, H.D. Kumaraswamy.