By-election will not happen on Oct 21, says disqualified MLA Sudhakar

Chikkalballapura: After by-elections for 15 seats in Karnataka was announced by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sunil Arora, disqualified MLA Dr Sudhakar said that he is confident that the Supreme Court will declare a stay order on the by-elections.

Addressing presspersons here on Saturday Sudhakar said that the hearing of the petitions filed by 17 disqualified MLAs of Karnataka challenging the decision of the then Speaker to disqualify them from the Assembly is still pending, therefore it is not right to conduct the by-election till SC gives the verdict.

The Supreme Court judge Justice M M Shantanagoudar on Tuesday, September 17 recused himself from hearing petitions filed by 17 disqualified MLAs of Karnataka challenging the decision of the then Speaker to disqualify them from the Assembly.

“In this matter, I am not participating” Justice Shantanagoudar, who was part of a three-judge bench headed by Justice N V Ramana, said at the outset.

The bench has now posted the matter for hearing on September 23.

The then Assembly speaker, K R Ramesh Kumar, had disqualified 17 MLAs which eventually led to the fall of the JD (S)-Congress coalition government headed by then chief minister H D Kumaraswamy.

Kumaraswamy had resigned as the chief minister after losing the trust vote which paved the way for the BJP-led government in Karnataka under incumbent Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa.