New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday pronounced verdicts in the Karnataka MLAs’ case that would please both the rebel legislators and the precariously placed Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) government.A bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices Deepak Gupta and Aniruddha Bose said that the 15 rebel Congress and JD(S) MLAs “ought not” to be compelled to take part in the proceedings of the Karnataka assembly, which is slated to decide the confidence motion moved by the H.D. Kumaraswamy-led state government on Thursday.#KarnatakaPolitics: Imperative to maintain Constitutional balance, Supreme Court passes interim order.Speaker to decide on resignation of 15 MLAs within appropriate time frame15 MLAs cannot be compelled to participate in proceedings of Assembly till Speaker decides, SC— Bar & Bench (@barandbench) July 17, 2019While this essentially means that no party whip is applicable to these MLAs, it remains to be seen in whose favour the numbers of the 224-seat assembly will tally if a chunk of the coalition’s MLAs keep off the floor test.The order was welcomed by Karnataka Bharatiya Janata Party chief B.S. Yeddyurappa, whose party has been credited with engineering the whole saga to topple the government. “It’s the victory of the constitution and democracy, and a moral victory for rebel MLAs. It’s only an interim order, the Supreme Court will decide the powers of the speaker in the future,” he said.Also read: Why Is the MLA a Commercial Commodity in Karnataka?However, the apex court did announce a clear verdict on the powers of the speaker when it said that Karnataka assembly speaker K.R. Ramesh Kumar was free to decide on the resignations of the rebel legislators within such time-frame as was deemed appropriate by him.Ten of the 15 rebel MLAs had moved the apex court with the plea that the speaker had kept their resignation pending just to disqualify them and alleged that there was nothing wrong in resigning to escape disqualification. Their case was argued by senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi.The court also said the speaker’s decision be put before it.The bench said the speaker’s discretion in deciding the resignation issue of the 15 rebel MLAs should not be fettered by the court’s directions or observations. It held that he should be free to decide the issue.In doing so, the court has largely abdicated its powers and held the speaker’s authority in the case as superior to its own. Ramesh Kumar, in reaction to the verdict, said he would take a decision which was “in no way contrary to the Constitution, the court and the Lokpal.”On Tuesday, senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan who was appearing on behalf of Kumaraswamy, had notably told the court that it had no jurisdiction to pass the two interim orders asking the assembly speaker to decide and, later, maintain the status quo on the resignations and disqualification of the rebel MLAs.“When resignation process is not in order, the court cannot direct the speaker to decide by 6 PM,” Dhavan had told the bench.On Thursday, Kumaraswamy, however, declined to comment on the verdict. He was seen offering prayers at a temple in Shankarapuram.#WATCH Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy declines to comment, when asked about Supreme Court’s verdict on Karnataka rebel MLAs. #Karnataka pic.twitter.com/aR1ww6aNgl— ANI (@ANI) July 17, 2019The bench, while pronouncing the order, said it was necessary to maintain the constitutional balance in the matter.The court said other issues raised in the matter would be decided at a later stage.