"It is surprising Bhardwaj has issued a directive to the Speaker to maintain the list of legislators as it stood on October six on which day the 19 legislators who were part of the Government gave a letter to the Governor withdrawing their support to Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa's Government.
"There is no such power vested in the Governor...his directive is non-est and ab-initio void," the BJP leader, also a former Governor of Jharkhand and Bihar and former Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court, said.
Jois said the directive is also in violation of the law laid down by Supreme Court in the case of Rajendra Singh Rana and others Vs Swami Prasad Maurya and others. The case related to 13 BSP MLAs in Uttar Pradesh who supported Mulayam Singh's claim to form the government in 2003.
In the concluding para of the judgement, the Supreme Court has clearly held that the 13 BSP MLAs who gave notice on August 27, 2003 to the Governor requesting him to call the opposition party leader to form the Government by them, itself would amount to their voluntarily giving up membership of their original political party, he said.
The 13 BSP members who met the Governor on August 27 stand disqualified with effect from that day, the court had said. "In view of the law laid down by the Supreme Court which is binding on all, including the Governor, the 19 legislators who gave letter withdrawing support to the Yeddyurappa government on October 6 stand disqualified with effect from that date itself," Jois said.
"Therefore, even on October six all the signatories except those who have denied their signature, if any, ceased to be members of Karnataka Legislative Assembly," he said.
Jois said it is "unfortunate" that the Governor who has been a law minister and also a senior politician, has exercised a power not vested in him.
