New Delhi: The floor test to prove a majority of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Karnataka assembly will be held at 4 pm, Saturday, in accordance with rules of the house, a three-judge Supreme Court bench said on Friday.
At the same time, the Supreme Court declined a request by attorney general K.K. Venugopal, to allow a secret ballot for the Karnataka floor test.
The protem speaker, who is appointed after the members of the legislative assembly take oath, will preside and choose the manner in which the floor test will be conducted, the court added.
A three-judge bench comprising justices A.K. Sikri, B.A. Bobde and Ashok Bhushan also stopped the BJP from appointing a member from the Anglo-Indian community to the assembly until after the floor test is conducted.
Mukul Rohtagi, appearing for two BJP MLAs gave an undertaking to the court that no policy decision would be taken by Karnataka chief minister B.S Yeddyurappa in the meantime.
“Floor test is the best option, let the larger question of law whether a governor can invite to form the government or not be decided later,” Sikri said.
Sikri added that it was a numbers game and that those enjoying the majority should be allowed to form the government. This was disputed by Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for the Congress-Janata Dal(Secular) alliance, who asked how the Karnataka governor could think that BJP could prove its majority when the Congress and JD(S) together have the arithmetic of a majority of MLAs.
Yeddyurappa took the oath as Karnataka chief minister on Thursday, after the apex court refused a Congress-JD(S) plea for a stay on the swearing-in.
The court had also asked directed that the letter sent by the BJP to the governor for forming the state government be placed before it.
It was, however, clarified by the apex court that the swearing-in and the government formation would be subject to its final order on the Congress-JD(S) petition before it.
Late on Wednesday, Karnataka governor Vajubhai Vala invited Yeddyurappa to be sworn in as chief minister and form the government and gave him 15 days to prove majority support on the floor of the assembly. Hours later, the Congress and JD(S) moved the Supreme Court, challenging this decision. Chief Justice Dipak Mishra constituted a three-judge bench for the case, which began hearing the petition at 2 am, Thursday.
Singhvi had appealed to the three-judge bench to either defer the swearing-in or quash the governor’s decision inviting the BJP to form the government. He argued that the swearing-in was a purely ministerial, non-statutory and executive function which could be deferred.
He cited recommendations of the Sarkaria Commission to buttress the case for the Congress-JD(S) post-poll alliance to form the government.
Rohatgi, however, said deferring the swearing-in would be tantamount to an injunction over the powers exercised by the governor. Rohatgi said that the Supreme Court should not stop a constitutional functionary from discharging their functions. Their actions are amenable through a judicial review, but an injunction would lead to disturbing Article 361 of the Constitution, he argued.
In its petition, the Congress sought quashing of the governor’s invitation to Yeddyurappa to form the government, terming it “unconstitutional, arbitrary and illegal”. Such an action is violative of Article 14 of the Constitution, it added.
The Karnataka election results declared on Tuesday threw up a fractured mandate. The BJP won 104 seats, the Congress 78 and JD(S) 37. One seat each went to the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Karnataka Pragnyavantha Janatha Party and an independent candidate.
The BJP said it must be invited to form a government as it is the single largest party. Yeddyurappa said his party will “form the government 100%”, and accused the Congress of making “unholy attempts” to grab power by offering support to the JD(S).