The three Jharkhand legislators served with disqualification notices by Speaker Inder Singh Namdhari on Monday sought two weeks' time to reply.

Enos Ekka, Kamlesh Singh and Stephen Marandi did not appear before the Speaker personally and were represented by their lawyers.

The four ministers resigned and withdrew support from the Arjun Munda-led National Democratic Alliance government, reducing it to a minority. The trust vote is slated for September 14.

The speaker told the representatives that the petitions seeking time would be under his 'active consideration', the lawyers said.

Asked by reporters what he meant by active consideration, Namdhari said, "It means, may be considered, may not be considered."

Petitions seeking the disqualification of Singh and Ekka have been pending at the speaker's office since last year. The two face charges for flouting party whips.

Notice had been sent to Marandi, an independent MLA, for joining a political party - Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Democratic). Marandi is its general secretary.

The three legislators had approached the Supreme Court against the speaker's notice.