SC To Rule On Maharashtra Floor Test Today

Sena-NCP-Cong. combine presses for immediate vote; cannot dictate to Governor, says Fadnavis

- Krishnadas Rajagopal

The Supreme Court on Monday said it would pass an order on Tuesday on the question of holding a floor test in the Maharashtra Assembly. “We will give our order at 10.30 a.m. tomorrow [November 26],” the Bench, led by Justice N.V. Ramana, said.

The Governor’s office and the parties on either side of the State’s political divide agreed in the court that a floor test was “imperative” to determine majority, but differed on when it should be held. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, through senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, told the Bench that a floor test in the next 24 hours was out of the question, adding that the court could not dictate terms to the Governor.

Vote a must: judge

But Justice Sanjiv Khanna, also on the Bench, put the matters in perspective. “In every case, the court has ordered the floor test to be held within 24 hours... The majority is not decided by the Governor, but on the floor of the House... Question is today whether the CM enjoys majority in the House. So a floor test has to be held,” he observed orally.

Mr. Rohatgi argued that all that the court could do now was to request Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari to initiate a floor test within a “reasonable time”.