N.V.RAMANA, J. - (1.) Reflecting on Indian parliamentary democracy, the words of André Béteille, Professor Emeritus of Sociology, need to be observed: "In a parliamentary democracy, the obligations of constitutional morality are expected to be equally binding on the government and the opposition. In India, the same political party treats these obligations very differently when it is in office, and when it is out of it. This has contributed greatly to the popular perception of our political system as being amoral..." Although the framers of the Constitution entrusted 'we the people' with the responsibility to uphold the constitutional values having attained freedom, the question which begs herein to be answered is to what extent we have discharged our duty and sustained our democratic and constitutional obligations.
(2.) In this context, the questions arising in this batch of Writ Petitions concern the importance of party politics in a democracy and the requirement to have stability within the government to facilitate good governance, as mandated under the Constitution. We need to keep in mind that the separating line between dissent and defection requires to be made apparent, so that democratic values are upheld in balance with other constitutional considerations. In an endeavor to maintain such balance, the role of the Speaker is critical in maintaining the balance between democratic values and constitutional considerations. In this regard, this Court's role is only to ascertain whether the Speaker, as a neutral member, upheld the tradition of his office to uphold the Constitution.
(3.) These Writ Petitions are filed against five different orders passed by the Speaker of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly: two orders dated 25.07.2019 in Disqualification Petition No. 01 of 2019 and Disqualification Petition No. 07 of 2019 respectively; two orders dated 28.07.2019 in Disqualification Petition No. 05 of 2019 and Disqualification Petition No. 08 of 2019 respectively; and a common order dated 28.07.2019 in Disqualification Petition Nos. 3 and 4 of 2019.;