SC allows two independent Karnataka MLAs to withdraw their petition seeking floor test

The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed two Karnataka independent MLAs - R Shankar and H Nagesh - to withdraw their plea from the apex court seeking direction to the Assembly Speaker to hold a floor test in the Assembly immediately.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi accepted the plea of the independent MLAs but expressed displeasure over the fact that advocate Mukul Rohatgi, who was representing the MLAs, failed to appear before the court.

The SC bench observed that when there was a matter of urgent listing, the advocates always take out time to come. On Wednesday, the bench had said that it would pass order in this case only in the presence of the counsels of the two parties, Mukul Rohatgi and Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who represented Karnataka Speaker K.R. Ramesh Kumar. It is to be noted that both Rohatgi and Singhvi preferred to skip the court's proceedings on Wednesday.

Singhvi was present in the court on Thursday and said the SC bench that he was not against the withdrawal petition filed by the two independent MLAs.

In the plea, the independent MLAs had claimed that they had decided to withdraw support to then ruling Congress-Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) coalition government in Karnataka and the two MLAs had asked the court to direct the Speaker to conduct a floor test in the House immediately.

The SC had agreed to hear their plea on Tuesday after Singhvi informed the court that the floor test would be conducted by the end of the day. The 14-month-old Congress-JDS government fell on Tuesday evening after failing to win the trust vote.