Nawab Malik, Anil Deshmukh can vote in Maharashtra floor test, says SC

Jailed Maharashtra MLAs Nawab Malik and Anil Deshmukh - of the Nationalist Congress Party - can vote in tomorrow's floor test, the Supreme Court said late night Wednesday night. The court ruled after a marathon hearing in which chief minister Uddhav Thackeray challenged - and lost - governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari's decision to force the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government, of which the NCP is a part - to prove its majority.

Malik and Deshmukh - both arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in separate money laundering cases - were given the all-clear after the agency and the centre conceded.

The floor test will be held 11 am Thursday as the governor has ordered.