(LiveMint)
After a four-hour long, post-midnight hearing on a Congress-JD(S) petition, the Supreme Court refused to stay BJP leader B.S. Yeddyurppa’s swearing-in as Karnataka chief minister at 9am today. The Supreme Court made it clear that the swearing-in and the government formation would be subject to its final order on the Congress-JD(S) petition before it.
A three-judge bench, comprising justices A.K. Sikri, S.A. Bobde and Ashok Bhushan, directed that the letter sent by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to Karnataka governor Vajubhai Vala for forming the state government be placed before it. The bench posted the matter for further hearing at 10.30 am Friday, saying it will peruse the letter as it was necessary to decide the matter. It also issued notices to the Karnataka government and Yeddyurappa.
“ We can’t speculate what kind of majority has been claimed until we see the letters”, observed Justice Bobde. Hours after a notification was issued by Karnataka governor Vajubhai Vala inviting Yeddyurappa to be sworn in as chief minister of Karnataka and form the government, the Congress and Janata Dal (Secular), or JD(S), moved the Supreme Court challenging this decision. The notification gave the BJP 15 days to prove majority support on the floor of the assembly.
