NEW DELHI, Mar 29: In a jolt to the Centre, the Uttarkhand High Court today ordered a floor test in the Assembly on March 31, giving a new turn to the political developments two days after President’s Rule was imposed in the State.
Justice U C Dhyani also allowed nine disqualified rebel MLAs of Congress to participate in the voting but their votes will be kept separate and will be subject to final outcome of the petition challenging their disqualification.
There was no clarity on whether by ordering the floor test, the President’s Rule imposed on Sunday is stayed and whether the dismissed Harish Rawat Government has been restored.
The Centre may challenge the verdict before the Division Bench of the High Court tomorrow. Congress also plans to approach the Division Bench relating to the part of the judgement that deals with the disqualified MLAs.
The votes of the disqualified MLAs will be taken into account subject to final outcome of the case, senior Supreme Court lawyer and Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi told reporters after the second day of the hearing here.
Singhvi appeared for the sacked Chief Minister Harish Rawat who had challenged the imposition of President’s Rule and demanded its immediate quashing.
Rawat welcomed the order, saying it was a “tremendous setback” for the Centre which was trying to bring “authoritarianism”. But this order would deter them from trying to destablise non-BJP governments in states, he said.
The High Court ordered the DGP to ensure security in the 71-member Assembly when the floor test is carried out.
Congress, which ruled the State for four years, claims the support of its own 27 MLAs plus six of PDF besides one dissident BJP MLA. Nine other Congress MLAs have turned rebels and joined hands with BJP which has 27 legislators.
Arguing on behalf of the Union Government in the court, Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said nullifying presidential promulgation is impermissible.
He said there was enough ground for imposition of President’s rule in the state in view of the failure of the constitutional machinery.
In Delhi, Congress leader Ambika Soni welcomed the High Court decision for floor test but said the party was considering legal opinion on approaching the Division Bench against allowing disqualified rebel MLAs to participate in the voting.
In earlier precedents, the Supreme Court had on two occasions ordered a composite floor test in Uttar Pradesh in 1998 and in Jharkhand in March 2005.
Rawat, whose government was sacked on Sunday on the grounds of “breakdown of Constitutional machinery”, had moved the court yesterday, calling the Centre’s decision as “arbitrary” and demanded its quashing.
Singhvi said the court accepted Congress position that despite the President’s Rule, there is enough scope for judicial review to allow a floor test, which was sought by it.
He said Governor K K Paul too had directed holding of the floor test on March 28 and Rawat had also made the same demand twice.
“Now only the date has changed from March 28 to March 31,” Singhvi said.
He said mere allegations of horse-trading cannot justify the imposition of President’s Rule and stop a floor test.
The Centre had imposed the President’s Rule just a day ahead of the date (March 28) fixed for the floor test.
On the question of disqualification of 9 rebel Congress MLAs, Singhvi said the court did not set it aside and a final decision on it will come later.
He said both the sides would consider their future legal recourse.
Singhvi said for purpose of counting, the votes of the disqualified MLAs will be kept separate for “identification” and will be subjected to final outcome of the case. “Unless their disqualification is removed, their votes will not be counted as valid votes,” the Congress lawyer said.
The political crisis in the State arose after nine Congress MLAs voted with the BJP against the Appropriation Bill on March 18 which the Speaker declared as passed, ignoring demands for Division.
Following this, Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal issued notices to the nine rebel Congress MLAs under the anti-defection law as to why they should not be disqualified.
Even as there were reports that the rebels were disqualified, on Saturday night the Union Cabinet met and considered the Governor’s report which had spoken about a breakdown in governance and expressed apprehensions of a possible pandemonium in the House during the floor test on March 28.
The Union Cabinet recommended to President Pranab Mukherjee bringing the state under President’s Rule by invoking Article 356 of the Constitution, which he signed on Sunday.
After the state was brought under the central rule, the Speaker disqualified the nine rebel Congress MLAs.
Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who had met the President on Sunday night and briefed him on the Cabinet decision, later justified the imposition of President’s Rule, saying the Congress “plunged the State into a serious constitutional crisis by continuing a Government which should have quit after the failure of the Appropriation Bill”.
To further complicate the crisis, “the Chief Minister started allurement, horse-trading and disqualification with a view to altering the composition of the House”, he had said.
“After the Assembly has been put under suspended animation and the decision has been made public, the Speaker has decided to disqualify some Members. The constitutional breakdown has been compounded further by this action,” he had said.
During the two-day hearing, Singhvi sought revocation of President’s Rule and restoration of Rawat’s Government, terming the Centre’s decision as a “brazen display of high-handedness and authoritarianism.”
“Invocation of Article 356 in Uttarakhand is absolutely illegal, arbitrary and malafide and therefore its invocation should be quashed and Harish Rawat Government restored,” Singhvi said.
Questioning the timing of the move which came just a day before Harish Rawat Government was to go for a floor test, he said it was meant to sabotage the Constitutional process. (PTI)
Follow our WhatsApp channel