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Supreme Court asks Centre for papers on govt formation
A bench of justices NV Ramana, Ashok Bhushan and Sanjiv Khanna said they have to see the order Koshyari issued, inviting Fadnavis to form the government and the chief minister’s letter to the governor staking the BJP’s claim to do so.
The Supreme Court ordered on Sunday the Centre to produce before it on Monday documents pertaining to the swearing-in of Devendra Fadnavis as Maharashtra chief minister as it heard a petition by Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress challenging governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari’s decision to invite the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to form the government in the state on Saturday.
A bench of justices NV Ramana, Ashok Bhushan and Sanjiv Khanna said they have to see the order Koshyari issued, inviting Fadnavis to form the government and the chief minister’s letter to the governor staking the BJP’s claim to do so.
“As adjudication of the issues and also the interim prayers sought by the petitioners to conduct floor test within 24 hours has to be considered after perusing the order of the Governor as well as the letters submitted by Mr Devendra Fadnavis... we request [Solicitor General] Mr Tushar Mehta to produce those two letters...” the bench said. It added that the matter would be taken up again at 10.30am on Monday for an appropriate order.
In their petition filed in the SC on Saturday, the Shiv Sena, NCP and the Congress asked the court to issue a direction to Koshyari to invite their coalition, the Maha Vikas Aghadi, to form the government. The three parties claimed they have 154 lawmakers in the assembly and added that Fadnavis was sworn in during a “make-shift and a hurriedly convened swearing-in ceremony”.
At a special hearing on a holiday, the bench also issued notices to the Centre, Maharashtra government, Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar, who was sworn in as the deputy chief minister at the ceremony that was held early on Saturday morning.
Fadnavis was sworn in as the chief minister on Saturday morning, hours after NCP chief Sharad Pawar announced that Shiv Sena
leader Uddhav Thackeray would head the Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition government of the three parties. The swearing-in ceremony took place shortly after President’s Rule was repealed.
The President’s Rule was imposed in the state on November 12 as the BJP decided to sit out while the Sena, its oldest ally, played hardball after the results were announced on October 24. The Sena insisted on sharing the chief minister’s post. President’s Rule was imposed even as Sharad Pawar started working on a Sena-Congress-NCP alliance
In a day of dramatic developments following the 8am swearing-in ceremony, Sharad Pawar and his daughter, Supriya Sule, maintained there has been a
split in both the party and their family.
By evening, Ajit Pawar was removed as the NCP legislature party leader. Ajit Pawar is Sharad Pawar’s nephew.
The BJP is the single-largest party in the 288-member Maharashtra assembly with 105 members.
The NCP has 54, Shiv Sena 56, and Congress 44 members in the House. Other parties and independents have a strength of 29. The halfway mark in the assembly is 144.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, who appeared for the Maha Vikas Aghadi, told the court on Sunday that the governor’s action “smacks of bias”. He cited the 2018 SC order following elections in Karnataka and added that the BJP should be asked to prove its majority in the House. Sibal alleged that a floor test was being delayed “so that the BJP can use the intervening period for something else”. “If they have the majority, let them show it. The BJP does not want to hold a floor test soon...”
Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who also appeared for the alliance, told the court that 41 NCP lawmakers have signed a resolution removing Ajit Pawar as their legislature party leader. “Then how can he [Ajit Pawar] claim that he has 54 [NCP] MLAs [members of the legislative assembly with him],” asked Singhvi. He requested the court to hold a floor test on Monday.
Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, who appeared for two BJP and some independent lawmakers, questioned the petition’s maintainability, saying the petitioners should have approached the Bombay high court.
Rohatgi questioned how political parties could move the SC under Constitution’s Article 32 for violation of fundamental rights. “They [Shiv Sena, NCP, and Congress] were given time but they did not form government… let Fadnavis prove majority as there was no tearing hurry”.
Rohatgi said that the governor’s decision to invite a political party is not open to judicial review as it is his discretionary power. Stating that the petitioners have not produced the order of the Governor which they are challenging, Rohatgi demanded that the same should be produced and parties should be given adequate time to respond to the petition.
The NCP insisted the Devendra Fadnavis government will be defeated in the floor test. Reacting to the Supreme Court’s decision, NCP leader Nawab Malik said, “The swearing-in took place on the basis of bogus documents. Devendra Fadnavis does not have the numbers. It is better if he quits on his own, else face defeat on the floor of the House during the trust vote.”
Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala said that they moved the SC for a floor test to prove that the government formed by the BJP and Ajit Pawar “is an illegitimate one which does not have a majority”. “The floor test will prove that the alliance of the three parties [Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress] has more numbers than what is required for a majority. It will prove that an illegitimate government was formed overnight in secrecy...”
