Governor refuses to comment on court's order

Reacting to legal battles over the disqualification of MLAs which the Karnataka High Court has upheld, Governor H R Bhardwaj today said it was the job of the court to decide such matters and ''it does not matter to me who wins or loses''.

"It does not matter to me who wins or loses. The assembly should function. Every member must participate fully and do their job", he told reporters on the sidelines of a function when asked to react on yesterday's High Court verdict which upheld the disqualification of five independent MLAs.

"It is the court's job to decide the cases, not mine", he said. Bhardwaj also sought to link the spate of petitions filed by disqualified MLAs challenging the order of Speaker K G Bopaiah to the non-compliance of his advisory to the Speaker in October last to not to alter the character of the assembly till the proceedings on vote of confidence were completed.

The Speaker, who rejected the advisory as an "interference" in the functioning of the Speaker's office on October 10, passed orders disqualifying 16 MLAs, including five independents, from their assembly membership under the anti-defection law. This action of Bopaiah had brought down the strength of the 224 assembly to 208.

On whether he had been disappointed, Bhardwaj, who has had an uneasy relationship with the state's BJP government ever since he assumed office, said "I am never disappointed over anything. I have my own reservations. In the last two years, my experience here has not been healthy with things happening".