Karnataka HC rejects plea challenging MLAs oath in the name of persons
Bengaluru, Dec 15: The Karnataka High Court on Friday dismissed a petition challenging the oath by nine ministers and 37 MLAs that was allegedly not in the prescribed format.
The petition claimed that Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, Zameer Ahmad Khan, KN Rajanna and others failed to take the oath of office in the prescribed format and therefore it should be declared unconstitutional.
A bench of Chief Justice Prasanna B Varale and Justice Krishna S Dixit said that it was a technical issue that the oath was taken in the name of some persons.
The petition said that the oath could be taken only in the name of God or solemnly affirmed but these MLAs took the oath in the name of voters or other persons.
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However, the HC noted that “This is a democratic set up; they are elected, selected by the voters. This is a technical difficulty that too not as such going to the root. It is only additionally that sometimes in enthusiasm somebody may hail somebody. Let them do their business. If you are so unhappy with them, see that in the coming elections they are not your representatives.”
Dismissing the petition, the HC said, “If they are not doing as expected by you as a voter see that they are not elected. You have a right to elect and select a representative while exercising your mandate to select a good person as per your consideration who is worthy.”
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Mamata’s decision not to quit part of her protest against Centre, EC: Raut
Mumbai (PTI): Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Wednesday backed West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s decision not to quit after her defeat in the assembly polls, calling it a part of her protest against the Centre and the Election Commission of India.
Talking to reporters, Raut asserted that it is necessary to unite against the “dictatorship of the Centre and partisan behaviour of the Election Commission”. He said the poll body has become “slaves” of the Centre.
The Opposition has to decide whether it has to contest the polls or not, he said.
“Mamata Banerjee is not resigning is part of her agitation against the government (Centre), the Election Commission (EC) and a series of acts against democracy,” Raut said.
It has to be seen what direction the agitation takes, he added.
Alleging that the West Bengal assembly poll verdict was “not a people's mandate but a conspiracy”, Banerjee on Tuesday refused to resign as chief minister.
The BJP sealed a landslide victory with 207 seats in the 294-member assembly, ending the TMC’s uninterrupted 15-year rule. Banerjee dismissed the outcome as “engineered” and asserted that her party was fighting the Election Commission, not the BJP. The TMC could only manage 80 seats.
In a post on Facebook, Raut said Banerjee’s decision not to quit is fully justified. He also sought to draw a parallel with the 2022 Maharashtra political crisis.
The then Chief Justice of India had observed during hearings on petitions seeking the disqualification of rebel MLAs of the undivided Shiv Sena that Uddhav Thackeray, who headed the party at the time, could have been reinstated as chief minister had he not resigned, Raut said.
The Rajya Sabha MP said Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray had called up Banerjee after the polls and extended support. Almost all INDIA bloc leaders have called Banerjee and extended their support to her.
“We have to come together if we have to unite against the dictatorship of the Centre and the partisan behaviour of the EC or the way the poll body has become slaves of the government,” Raut said.
He claimed that even many in the government do not agree with the “degradation of democracy”.
