The Supreme Court on Wednesday gave 15 dissident MLAs of Karnataka complete freedom to opt out of the ongoing Assembly session even as it acknowledged the Speaker’s discretion to decide on their resignations as and when he considers appropriate. The court said the Speaker, once he had taken a call on the resignations, should place his decision before the court. In this case, the MLAs have already filed sworn affidavits in the court that their resignations are voluntary and genuine. Kumaraswamy had argued that the court should let the Speaker take a final decision on the resignations. Five of the 15 MLAs said they were been threatened to support the government in the proposed floor test.

Source: The Hindu July 17, 2019 05:42 UTC