Disqualified MLAs case: SC defers hearing to Oct 23

New Delhi/Bengaluru: The hearing on the petition filed by 17 rebel Karnataka Congress-JD (S) MLAs challenging their disqualification under the anti-defection law was deferred for October 23 by the Supreme Court.

A three-judge bench headed by Justice N V Ramana rendered the order.

As the by-polls to 15 Karnataka seats are slated to take place in December, the MLAs had requested for an interim order to allow them to contest in the elections. Earlier the elections were scheduled to take place on October 21 but were deferred to December 5 by the Election Commission.

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.