“When you want urgent listing, you come at midnight; When we call you, you can’t come”, CJI Ranjan Gogoi to Senior Counsel

Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi today expressed his displeasure at the absence of Senior Counsel in the case concerning the Karnataka Assembly floor test.

. The petition filed by two MLAs praying that floor test be conducted had become infructuous after the trust vote was held in Karnataka Assembly yesterday.

. When the matter came up yesterday, neither Mukul Rohatgi (Senior Counsel for petitioners) nor Abhishek Manu Singhvi (Senior Counsel representing the Speaker) was present in court.

. CJI Ranjan Gogoi had said that he will not pass orders in the absence of the Senior Counsel.

. When the matter was taken up today, Senior Advocates AM Singhvi (for respondent no. 1, Speaker) and Rajeev Dhavan (for respondent, former CM HD Kumaraswamy) were present.

. Mukul Rohatgi was, however, absent.

. Dhavan told the Court though the petitioner’s counsel Mukul Rohatgi is not present in court, the petitioners have expressed their inclination to withdraw the petition and that the respondents have no objection.

. CJI was, however, not impressed.

. “When you (Senior Advocates) want urgent listing all of you are here. You come here at 10.30 am, 2 pm, even midnight. But if we call you, you can’t come”, CJI Gogoi said.

. He eventually allowed the petitioners to withdraw the petition.

. With this, the saga in the Supreme Court appears to have come to a close.

. On July 10, ten rebel MLAs of the Congress and the JD(S) in Karnataka approached the Supreme Court challenging the delay by the Speaker of State Assembly in accepting their resignations.

. When the matter came up for hearing on July 11, the Court directed the Speaker of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly KR Ramesh Kumar to decide on the resignations tendered by the rebel MLAs.

. Hours later, however, the Speaker moved the Supreme Court seeking recall of this order.

. When the matter came up for hearing again on July 12, the Court ordered that status quo be maintained by the Speaker with respect to the resignations by rebel MLAs and the disqualification proceedings against them.

. Subsequently, on July 17, the Court directed the Speaker of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly to decide on the resignations of the rebel Congress and JD(S) MLAs within an “appropriate time frame”. However, the Court refrained from laying down any particular time frame.

. It also ordered that the 15 MLAs cannot be compelled to participate in the proceedings of the House.

. Later, two MLAs approached the Supreme Court seeking a direction that a floor test be conducted in the Karnataka Assembly.

“When you want urgent listing, you come at midnight; When we call you, you can’t come”, CJI Ranjan Gogoi to Senior Counsel

Murali Krishnan

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