Karnataka crisis: Congress moves SC against July 17 order

The Karnataka Congress moved the Supreme Court on Friday contending that its July 17 order on the resignation of 15 rebel Congress and JDS MLAs was coming in the way of the party issuing whip to its legislators in the ongoing trust vote.

The application — by Karnataka Congress chief Dinesh Gundu Rao — sought clarification on the order, which said the 15 rebel MLAs cannot be compelled to participate in the ongoing Assembly proceedings, saying that the direction compromises with the party’s right to issue whip.

The Congress said the apex court’s order “whittles down” the power of a political party to issue whip to its MLAs as it has a constitutional right to do so and the court can't restrict that.