Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)

Bengaluru, May 3: Assembly speaker, K B Koliwad, has filed appeal in the division bench of the high court, against a single-judge bench order of the high court, which had directed him to pronounce decision on the issue of disqualification of JD(S) legislators who had cross-voted during Rajya Sabha election against the party's whip. MLAs in question, Ramesh Bandisidde Gowda and Zameer Ahmed Khan, have also filed appeals against the said order.

The division bench of the high court comprising Justice B Veerappa and Justice Sunil Dutt Yadav, which heard the appeals on Wednesday May 2, adjourned hearing to May 4.

Presenting arguments on behalf of the appellants, advocates representing them argued that the assembly speaker has absolute discretion over deciding issue of disqualification of legislators and courts have no jurisdiction over this authority and that they also cannot fix date by which ruling should be pronounced. They quoted certain Supreme Court verdicts in support of this argument.

The legal representative on behalf of the state government said that the government is not in any way concerned with the issue. The bench, after hearing arguments from both the sides, adjourned hearing in the case.

The court had, when considering writ petitions filed by legislators, B B Ningaiah and H C Balakrishna, seeking to disqualify seven JD(S) legislators who had cross-voted during Rajya Sabha election, directed the assembly speaker, with whom a complaint filed by JD(S) is pending, to pronounce the verdict before May 7.