New Delhi: Supreme Court reserved the order on a plea filed by Shiv Sena chief whip Sunil Prabhu challenging Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari's direction to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to prove his majority support on the floor of the House on June 30.
Earlier in the day, senior advocate AM Singhvi, appearing on behalf of Prabhu mentioned the plea before a vacation bench headed by Justice Surya Kant and said, "I have 4 or 5 points. Will be brief."
Singhvi said, "The letter which tells us about the floor test is dated June 28. Yesterday evening, the Leader of Opposition met the Governor. Media reports mentioned it was at 10 pm. Today, when we mentioned the matter, we received information about the floor test at 11 am tomorrow. Currently, two of the NCP MLAs are down with Covid and two Congress MLAs are abroad."
He said the supersonic speed of the floor test left us with no time to call MLAs." Singhvi said, "These people left from Maharashtra and went to Guwahati and on their way, they sent an email from an unverified account that we have no confidence in the Speaker. They have clearly walked across and hobnobbed with the Opposition."
He asked, "After meeting the Leader of Opposition, how can the Governor call for a floor test without verification of the situation." "The court must not allow a floor test to be held till the deputy Speaker decides on the disqualification petition against rebel MLAs," Singhvi told the Apex Court. Citing the Uttarakhand Harish Rawat case, senior advocate AM Singhvi said, "A floor test was directed, but the disqualification decision was taken by the Speaker before the floor test. One day before the floor test, the President's Rule was imposed."
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He also cited the Shivraj Chouhan (Madhya Pradesh) case where an "artificial majority was sought to be created by engineering resignations." Sunil Prabhu's lawyer told Supreme Court about a letter that tells us about the floor test. He said that on June 28, Opposition leaders met Governor, and today morning, we received intimation about a floor test that is scheduled to be held tomorrow. Two NCP members are down with COVID and one Congress MLA is out of the country, he said.
He said, "There is the supersonic speed for the floor test. The floor test determines which government represents the will of the people. A floor test is supposed to find out the true majority. A true majority will include those eligible to be included."
Sunil Prabhu's lawyer submitted that the voting (in-floor test) should not take place before the Speaker's decision. After his decision, the number of members of the House will change. Supreme Court Bench, in response to Prabhu, said, "The disqualification case is pending before us, we will decide whether the notice is valid or not. But how is this affecting the floor test?"
As the political turmoil in Maharashtra continues to unfold, the Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly Devendra Fadnavis accompanied by 8 independent MLAs on Tuesday submitted a letter to the Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari and demanded an immediate floor test. "We have given a letter to the Maharashtra Governor demanding an immediate floor test," Devendra Fadnavis said. (With agency inputs)
