Bedlam in K’taka assembly as Minister, ex-speaker lock horns

Team Udayavani, Mar 11, 2020, 9:05 AM IST

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Bengaluru: The Karnataka assembly on Tuesday witnessed heated exchange of words between Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar and former speaker K R Ramesh Kumar over the disqualification of 17 MLAs last year that eventually led to the fall Congress-JD(S) coalition government.

Sudhakar was among the rebel Congress and the JD(S) MLAs who had resigned from the assembly and was later disqualified by Kumar under the anti-defection law, taking note of the Congress partys complaint for his alleged anti- party activities.

During the debate on the Constitution, Sudhakar raised the issue of how he along with 16 others had to go into oblivion for 14 months.

Directing his angst against Kumar, Sudhakar said, The Speakers scope of enquiry with respect to acceptance and rejection of a resignation tendered by a legislator is limited to examine whether such a resignation was tendered voluntarily or genuinely.”

Once it is demonstrated that the member is willing to resign out of his free will, the speaker has no option but to accept the resignation. It is constitutionally impermissible for the speaker to take into account any extraneous factors, he said.

Congress MLA U T Khader questioned him why he had quit the Congress and now blaming them.

In reply, Sudhakar said the matter was not related to him alone but all the 17 members who had to suffer all the 14 months.

Kumar objected to it, saying, Do they want to debate on the Supreme Court (which had upheld the MLAs disqualification) judgement? Speaker is a quasi judicial authority.

Then he asked the law minister whether the Supreme Court order be debated in the house. Soon, pandemonium broke out.

The presiding officer Shivanand S Patil adjourned the house.

Later, both said they would move the breach of privilege motion against each other.

Denouncing Sudhakar, the Congress legislative party leader Siddaramaiah said the medical education minister raised the issue of disqualification of MLAs unnecessarily and spoke against Ramesh Kumar without any provocation.

It (the disqualification) was not done by Ramesh Kumar in the capacity of Ramesh Kumar but as the speaker of the Assembly. The Supreme Court had upheld the speakers order, Siddaramaiah pointed out.

He said Sudhakars statement that Kumar disqualified them to mentally torture them and reference to the Supreme Court judgement was uncalled for.

Following this, unparliamentary words were used against Kumar.

The derogatory words against Kumar amount to the breach of house and breach of privilege, Siddaramaiah said.

Kumar had disqualified the MLAs which eventually led to the fall of the Congress-JD(S) coalition government headed by the then chief minister H D Kumaraswamy.

Kumaraswamy resigned as the chief minister after losing a trust vote, which paved the way for the BJP-led government in the southern state under Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa.

The lawmakers had approached the apex court, challenging Kumar’s decision to disqualify them.

Some of them had contended in their pleas that the decision taken by Kumar before resigning as the speaker was entirely illegal, arbitrary and mala fide exercise of his power under the 10th Schedule of the Constitution.

They had also questioned Kumar’s decision to reject their resignations by holding that those were not voluntary and genuine.