The Supreme Court upheld the disqualification of the 17 MLAs in Karnataka but allowed them to contest the upcoming bypolls in the state.
A three-judge bench held that the Speaker was not empowered to disqualify the lawmakers for the entire tenure of the term, which lasts until 2023.
The Speaker had disqualified these MLAs from the 16th Karnataka Legislative Assembly on July 25 and 28 this year under the Tenth Schedule, or the anti-defection law.
Also, they barred from contesting elections during the tenure of the current Assembly.