The Supreme Court directed on Wednesday that the 15 rebel Congress and JDS 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.

A bench of Justices Deepak Gupta and Aniruddha Bose, and headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, said Karnataka Assembly Speaker K.R. Ramesh Kumar was free to decide on the resignations of the rebel legislators within such time-frame as deemed appropriate by him.

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 MLAs should not be fettered by the court's directions or observations and he should be free to decide the issue.

The 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.