The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed an appeal filed by Karnataka BJP leader and Member of the Legislative Council (MLC) A.H. Vishwanath against a State High Court order disqualifying him from being appointed a Minister.
A Bench led by Chief Justice of India Sharad A. Bobde said the disqualification would hold if a person is only nominated as an MLC and not elected.
“Special leave petitions are dismissed,” the court ordered.
Mr. Vishwanath was one of the 17 dissident legislators whose disqualification by the Speaker under the anti-defection law was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2019. Their defection had led to the toppling of the combined Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) government in Karnataka. The apex court, in its 2019 judgment, did not bar the disqualified legislators from contesting byelections.
Mr. Vishwanath, however, did not manage to get re-elected. He was later nominated as MLC by the Governor. He was in the race to become a Minister in the present BJP government under Chief Minister B.S. Yeddiyurappa before the High Court order became a stumbling block in his path.
Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, for Mr. Vishwanath, argued that his disqualification was only “restricted to the capacity of the office from which I have been disqualified” and not from appointment as a Minister.
“If you come back elected it is fine. If you are simply nominated, it cannot be,” Chief Justice Bobde agreed with the High Court’s conclusions.
The Bench said the High Court was well-reasoned.
In its order in November last year, a Division Bench observed that the “disqualification will continue till the expiry of the term of the post of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly held by him earlier. However, before the expiry of the said term, if he gets elected (and not nominated) to the House and Legislature, the disqualification will not apply.”