SC disposes of Munda's plea on J'khand issue

SC disposed of Munda's petition demanding dismissal of JMM-Congress coalition government headed by Shibu Soren.

With an impending constitutional crisis blowing over by the appointment of BJP leader Arjun Munda as Chief Minister, the Supreme Court on Monday disposed of his petition demanding dismissal of JMM-Congress coalition government headed by Shibu Soren.

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A Bench comprising Chief Justice RC Lahoti, Justice YK Sabharwal and Justice DM Dharmadhikari, while disposing of the petition filed by Munda, kept open the constitutional questions raised by another petition filed by Anil Kumar Jha on the Jharkhand controversy.

The March 9 order of the Supreme Court directing the floor test in the state assembly for March 11 had created a storm in the legislature with many legal luminaries, including Speaker Somnath Chatterjee and constitutional expert Fali S Nariman, terming the order as an encroachment of judiciary in the jurisdiction of the legislature.

However, after the unruly scenes in the 81-member Jharkhand Assembly on March 11, the Centre intervened leading to installation of a Government led by Munda, who had displayed his majority before the President by parading 41 MLAs.

The Court noted that the subsequent events have rendered Munda's petition infructuous and disposed it of.