Karnataka MLAs' plea: Will pass appropriate order in Rohatgi, Singhvi's presence, says CJI

The Supreme Court on Wednesday said it will pass an appropriate order and dispose of the petitions moved by two Karnataka Independent MLAs with respect to the floor test, only in the presence of the counsels -- Mukul Rohatgi (for rebel MLAs) and Abhishek Manu Singhvi (for Congress).

A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi observed this after being apprised of their absence in court.

"Where is Mukul Rohatgi? Where is Abhishek Manu Singhvi?" the Chief Justice asked, to which Rohatgi's junior said he is not in Delhi. He then requested to slate the matter for hearing tomorrow.

The court was hearing the petition filed by two Independent MLAs -- H Nagesh and R Shankar -- seeking a direction to conclude the floor test in the state Assembly.

The lawmakers, who withdrew support to the Congress-JD (S) government in Karnataka, made state Assembly Speaker K R Ramesh Kumar, outgoing Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, and the central government respondents in their petition.

This comes in the backdrop of drubbing faced by Congress-JD(S) coalition in Karnataka after losing the trust vote in the Assembly last evening.

Following the defeat, Kumaraswamy submitted his resignation to Governor Vajubhai Vala at Raj Bhavan, along with his cabinet ministers.

This brought an end to the high-voltage political drama which had begun in the state with the resignation of over a dozen rebel MLAs to the Speaker.

The defeat marks the end of an uneasy coalition that was formed after the assembly polls on May 23, 2018, which returned a hung verdict after three main parties in the state- Congress, BJP and the JD (S) contested against each other in the polls.

-ANI