The Madhya Pradesh Congress on March 17 approached the Supreme Court for a direction to grant it access to and communicate with its 16 ‘rebel’ MLAs spirited away to Bengaluru ahead of the Assembly floor test against the Kamalnath government.
“The insistence of the BJP to hold a floor test without the participation of the 16/22 confined/captive MLAs belonging to the Congress is a classic textbook example of an attempt to pervert a constitutional process and frustrate the very purpose of holding a floor test,” the petition, filed by advocate Amit Pai, said.
Centre made respondent
The petition has made the Union government , the BJP and the State of Madhya Pradesh, along with the 16 ‘rebel’ MLAs, respondents in the case.
Also read: Rebels in Bengaluru speaking under duress, must be freed immediately: Madhya Pradesh Minister
The BJP has already moved the apex court for early holding of the floor test. The court has urgently scheduled the hearing for March 18.
The confinement of the MLAs since the beginning of March and holding them in resorts in Bengaluru is a fraud on the Constitution, the Congress petition said.
The petition sought a direction to allow the rebel MLAs to participate in the ongoing Budget session of the Assembly.
Also read: Allow 16 rebel Congress MLAs freedom to take decision without fear: Kamal Nath to Governor
Alternatively, if the MLAs have resigned and their seats fallen vacant, a trust vote cannot be held until by-elections to these seats are held, the Congress argued.
The Congress complained to the apex court that the BJP has confined the legislators in Karnataka with the aid of the State apparatus. They have been held incommunicado to even families and party members.
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The petition said “the floor test can only be meaningful when all the elected representatives are able to attend and exercise their freedom without any pressure or duress.”
“For that, even assuming but not conceding that the MLAs have tendered their resignations from the Assembly, they are still members of the Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee. As such there is no reason as to how and why members of the INC not be allowed to meet these persons,” the petition said.
The petition said the act of keeping legislators of a rival party captive in another State and getting directions from the Governor to conduct a floor test is “absolutely illegal and arbitrary.”
