Centre decision on Uttarakhand floor test tomorrow

Attorney-general Mukul Rohatgi on Wednesday informed the Supreme Court that the Centre was seriously considering its suggestion for a floor test in the Uttarakhand Assembly and said a decision is possible in two days.

Taking note of this submission in response to Tuesday’s suggestion, a bench of Justices Dipak Misra and Shiva Kirti Singh asked the A-G to come back with the Centre’s stand on May 6. The bench made it clear that in the event of the Centre accepting the suggestion for a “court-monitored floor test”, it would ask the former Congress chief minister, Harish Rawat, to prove his majority in the Assembly. If the Centre rejected the suggestion, it would hear arguments on the Centre’s plea for upholding President’s Rule, imposed in the state on March 27.

The bench had already stayed the high court order quashing President’s Rule in the state and had asked the Centre not to make any attempt to install a BJP government in the state.

The A-G submitted that in the event of the Centre accepting the court’s proposal, the bench should ask both the Congress and the BJP to demonstrate their respective strength instead of asking only Mr Rawat to prove his majority.

However, senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for Mr Rawat, strongly opposed the AG’s plea and said it would not be proper to ask someone who had never been CM to prove his majority.

The right way was to ask Mr Rawat to take a vote of confidence. The bench clarified to Mr Sibal that it would not restore status quo ante and thereby make Mr Rawat the CM before the confidence vote in the Assembly. If the Centre did not favour a floor test, the bench said it would hear arguments on the need for sending the appeal to a Constitution Bench. In case there was a floor test, it would be held as was done in the Jharkhand Assembly in March 2005 under the supervision of the apex court.