The constitutional experts have reacted sharply to the decision of Karnataka governor H.R. Bhardwaj, recommending President’s Rule in the state by making the Supreme Court verdict the main ground for it.
“There is absolutely no justification for President’s Rule as there is no breakdown of constitutional machinery in the state. The chief minister has claimed that he has the majority and let it be tested on the floor of the House,” former Attorney-General Soli Sorabjee said.
“It seems to be an attempt on the part of the governor to destabilise a duly elected government. I am sorry to say the governor has a single point agenda to dislodge a duly elected government, which is deplorable,” Mr Sorabjee said.
“The governor has not acted as per the dignity and decorum of the high office he is holding but, in fact, has behaved like a Leader of the Opposition. It is a clear case of dereliction of constitutional duty on the part of the governor,” he said.
Similarly, renowned constitutional commentator and former Lok Sabha secretary-general Subhas Kashyap also questioned the validity of Mr Bhardwaj’s report to the President recommending Central rule in the state, saying in fact, the strength of the BJP in the House has gone up by 14 with the three recent victories in byelections.
According to Mr Kashyap, the Supreme Court verdict “cannot be made the ground for recommending the President’s Rule. The entire exercise — the Assembly Speaker’s decision to disqualify the 11 BJP rebel MLAs and the Supreme Court restoring their memberships — are covered under the Constitution.”
“There is provision under the Constitution for judicial review of the Speaker’s decision and the Supreme Court has exactly done the same, then where is the question of any unconstitutionality in it,” Mr Kashyap said. Explaining further, he said the judgement in fact has two consequences: first the strength of BJP has gone up in the assembly; second if the rebel MLAS still want to vote against the Chief Minister, or have changed their mind to support him, all this has to be tested only and only on the floor of the House.”