Karnataka crisis: Supreme Court asks Speaker to maintain status quo till Tuesday
New Delhi, July 12 (IBNS): With no end to the crisis in Karnataka politics for now, the Supreme Court on Friday ordered the Speaker of the Vidhan Soudha not to take decision on the resignations and disqualifications of the 10 rebel Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) MLAs till Tuesday, media reports said.
The top court, which had asked the rebel MLAs to submit fresh resignations to the Speaker on Thursday, will hear the case on Tuesday.
Though the Speaker initially refused to accept the resignations, the rebel MLAs had moved the Supreme Court. Upon the order of the top court, the Speaker on Thursday accepted the fresh resignations but took time to examine them.
If the resignations are accepted by the Speaker, it would leave the Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) coalition in minority. In that scenario, the coalition's tally will fall from 118 to 100 in a 224-member Assembly. The majority mark is 113.
If the resignations of 16 MLAs are accepted by the Speaker, the halfway mark in 208-member Assembly will fall to 105 giving the single largest party, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a smooth sail to power with its tally of 105 seats.
