Courts have no authority on disqualification of MLAs: Speaker

Bengaluru: Assembly Speaker K B Koliwad on Wednesday attested his entitlement to hold his choice on the disqualification of seven rebel JD(S) MLAs, to which he said courts had no authority to take decisions over the issue.

On March 19, Koliwad had saved his request in the wake of hearing a petition filed by the JD(S), looking for disqualification of seven dissident MLAs. The High Court, on Tuesday, asked for the speaker to inform when he would pass the orders. In like manner, Advocate General Madhusudan Naik met Koliwad to examine the issue.

Speaking to the media after meeting Naik, Koliwad said “I have saved my orders. I can give it now, at night, tomorrow or not give it by any means. The advocate general and I examined legal aspects, including Constitutional provisions,” he included.

Koliwad said High Court has not communicated anything to him. “How might I take cognisance of what the court has stated, when I have not gotten anything in writing?” he said.

He referred to the tenth Schedule of the Constitution – alluded to as the anti defection law- and said courts had authority in the matter of disqualification. “Despite anything contained in the Constitution, no court might have any jurisdiction in regard of any issue associated with disqualification,” he stated, while reading out Rule 7 of the tenth Schedule.

In front of the Rajya Sabha surveys planned on March 23, the JD(S) has looked for exclusion of B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan, N Cheluvarayaswamy, A B Ramesh Bandisiddegowda, H C Balakrishna, Akhanda Srinivasamurthy, Iqbal Ansari and S Bheema Naik.

The Congress is depending on the votes of these seven officials to help its third candidate G C Chandrashekhar win in the Rajya Sabha polls.