The Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) combine moved an application before the Supreme Court Registry on Friday evening seeking urgent orders to quash Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala’s order appointing KG Bopaiah as Prot-tem Speaker of the Assembly ahead of the crucial floor test on Saturday. late on Friday, Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra decided to list the matter before the three-judge bench, headed by Justice AK Sikri. The matter will be heard by the Bench, which also comprises Justices SA Bobde and Ashok Bhusha, at 10.30 am, much ahead of the trust vote slated at 4 pm.
The application demanded videography of proceedings, separation of MlAs into those supporting and those opposing the trust vote, and a direction to the Pro-tem Speaker to deal with no other business other than floor test.
The application states Bopaiah, a four-time MlA, is relatively junior and the Governor ought not to have passed an order overlooking the tradition of appointing
the senior most MlA as Pro-tem Speaker. The House has an eight-time Congress MlA in the presently elected House.
Moreover, the apprehensions of the petitioners take root from an earlier instance where Bopaiah as Speaker of the Karnataka Assembly between 2009 and 2013 allowed disqualification petitions moved by the present CM BS Yeddyurappa, who was also the then CM, in a brazen act to save the Government.
The SC indicted him in two decisions passed in 2011 and 2012 and set aside the defection orders he had passed.
The application said, “The manner in which preparations for the floor test is being carried out seems to suggest that it is being designed to replicate defections orchestrated by respondent number 3 (Yeddyurappa) in 2008 when he was again short of majority.”
The petitioners fear that the Pro-tem Speaker may disqualify some MlAs as per a Karnataka High Court order of May 7, 2018 and to avoid this, the application sought orders to restrict the Pro-tem Speaker to deal only with the issue of trust vote.
Congress called Bopaiah an “agent” of the BJP, and noted that Deshpande of the Congress, the senior-most member of the House, should have been appointed in Bopaiah’s place to which Union Minister Prakash Javadekar responded that Congress’ protest over it as a “hoax objection”.
“K G Bopaiah was appointed as Pro-tem Speaker even in 2008 by the then Governor. That time Bopaiah was 10 years younger than what he is today. The Congress is thus raising hoax objection. The appointment of Bopaiah Ji is as per rules and regulations,” Javadekar tweeted.
Congress chief spokesman Randeep Surjewala said Bopaiah is the same person who had disqualified those BJP MlAs who had exposed corruption of Yeddyurappa following which the Supreme Court Bench had said he did not believe in the Constitution, democracy. The SC had dismissed his orders (as Speaker) with stinging strictures,” Surjewala said.
The Supreme Court had in 2011 quashed Bopaiah’s decision to disqualify 16 MlAs ahead of the no-confidence motion which had ensured the survival of the Yeddyurappa Government. The court had then said basic constitutional values and principles of natural justice were not observed by Bopaiah in disqualifying the 11 rebel BJP and five Independent legislators.
Bopaiah as the Pro-tem Speaker had administered the oath to newly elected members of the Assembly in 2008, when the BJP came to power in Karnataka for the first time under Yeddyurappa. He was subsequently elected the deputy Speaker when Jagadish Shettar, a former Chief Minister, was the speaker.
In 2009, he was elected the Speaker following the resignation of Shettar, who was made a Minister. The Pro-tem Speaker will administer the oath to the MlAs at 11 am before Yeddyurappa moves the motion seeking vote of confidence of the House at 4 pm.
In its order, the Supreme Court has enumerated four steps that have to be followed for holding the floor test, directing the immediate appointment of the Pro-tem Speaker, holding the oath ceremony for all elected members on Saturday by 4pm.