KG Bopaiah faced Supreme Court wrath over 2010 trust vote

NEW DELHI: KG Bopaiah, the BJP MLA who has been named the temporary speaker of Karnataka assembly ahead of Saturday’s trust vote, had in 2011 faced Supreme Court rap for acting in “hot haste” and “partisan trait” as the then speaker to disqualify 11 members from the House.

If Bopaiah will be chairing a session now that will decide whether BS Yeddyurappa remains the chief minister or not, his previous move helped the then CM, again Yeddyurappa, save his position. He had disqualified the BJP MLAs who had revolted against the CM after he was named in the mining scam.

But a Supreme Court bench, comprising the then Chief Justice Altamas Kabir and Justice Cyriac Joseph, ruled that his decision not to serve notice on the MLAs or hear their version amounted to violation of the principles of fair play and natural justice. The court had then set aside his decision.


The MLAs had on October 6, 2010 written to the state governor, complaining about their disillusionment over widespread corruption, abuse of power and misuse of government machinery in the functioning of the government.

They were disqualified before the vote of confidence against Yeddyurappa that took place on October 11, 2010. The court ruling of May 11, 2011 said: “Unless it was to ensure that the trust vote did not go against the chief minister, there was no conceivable reason for the speaker to have taken up the disqualification application in such a great hurry.” On Friday, Karnataka governor Vajubhai Vala appointed Bopaiah the pro-tem speaker.