The Supream Court Monday dismissed a lawsuit seeking its direction to Andhra Pradesh assembly speaker to accept the en masse resignations of 139 legislators on the issue of the state’s bifurcation.
A bench of Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan, and Justices J.M. Panchal and B.S. Chauhan dismissed the lawsuit by former parliamentarian M. Narayan Reddy, questioning his stake in the issue.
“What’s your locus standi in the matter?” asked the bench, while dismissing Reddy’s lawsuit, which alleged that inaction of assembly Speaker N. Kiran Kumar Reddy over the en masse resignations by legislators has triggered a constitutional crisis in the state.
Appearing for Reddy, senior counsel Subodh Markandey sought the court’s intervention, citing constitutional provisions to contend that a resignation by a state legislator or the parliamentarian is deemed to be accepted the moment it is tendered to the speaker of the relevant house.
Markandey told the court that the 139 legislators, who decided to quit their membership of the house due to their support or opposition to the issue of carving a separate Telangana state out of Andhra Pradesh, belonged to various parties.
The en masse resignation by the state legislators have led to confusion whether over the majority of the state government and its not known if the present government has the requisite mandate to govern the state, he argued.
He sought the court’s direction to the state assembly speaker to accept all the pending resignation with him and set in motion the formation of a new popular government.
