New Delhi, July 16: Karnataka Speaker K. Ramayya Ramesh on Tuesday sought time till Wednesday to decide on the resignation and disqualification of the rebel Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) coalition MLAs. During the hearing, rebel lawmakers told that they "could not be forced to attend the assembly". The Supreme Court was hearing the case of 15 lawmakers of the ruling Karnataka government. BJP Involved in 'Conspiracy' to Lure MLAs in Karnataka, Goa: Congress.

Senior advocate Dr Abhishek Manu Singhvi requested the court to modify its earlier status quo on the lawmakers. Earlier, Kumar asked for more time to examing resignations and decide whether the MLAs had been coerced. Rebel 14 Lawmakers Write ‘Threat From Congress Leaders’ Letter to Mumbai Police, Seeks Protection.

A bench headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi is first dealing with pleas of 10 MLAs against KR Ramesh for not accepting resignations. Later today, it will also listen to five MLAs who allege that are "being forced to support the government on the threat of disqualification”.

Sixteen legislators of Congress-JDS coalition and two independent MLAs have resigned so far. If the resignations are accepted then the JDS-Congress coalition's 118 members will come down to 100 and the majority will drop to 105. The Bharatiya Janata party has 105 members and support of two independent, which will take their tally to 107.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 16, 2019 01:59 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).