 "Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat addresses the media in Dehradun")
The Uttarakhand High Court on Wednesday stayed an interim order of a single-judge Bench calling for a floor test in the Assembly on Thursday.
A Division Bench of Chief Justice K M Joseph and Justice V K Bist also fixed April 7 as the next date of hearing.
The Centre had challenged the single-judge Bench’s order on the floor test. The Centre has been asked to file an affidavit on April 5, while dislodged Chief Minister Harish Rawat has been given time until April 6.
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In a separate move, the high court fixed April 1 as the next date of hearing on a case pertaining to the disqualification of the nine rebel Congress Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs). The rebels had challenged Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal’s decision to disqualify them under the anti-defection law on various grounds, including the passage of the appropriation Bill.
The single-judge Bench headed by Justice Dhyani had also allowed the nine disqualified Congress MLAs to cast their votes on March 31 pending a final order. The Congress was unhappy and had planned to challenge this aspect of the order.
Ordering the floor test on Tuesday, Justice Dhyani had observed that invoking Article 356 of the Constitution by the Centre was a “colourable exercise of power”. “Democratically-elected Houses should not be demolished in such a fashion. Floor test is the only test to prove the majority,” he had said, even though he ruled out staying the effect of the proclamation under Article 356 at this stage.
On Wednesday, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Kailash Vijayavargiya welcomed the order, stating that the earlier order was given in a hurry. Rawat said he hoped the court would do justice.
On Tuesday, the government had prorogued the Budget session of Parliament. The Lok Sabha was prorogued to enable the President to order finances to the state from the Consolidated Fund of India.
Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala tweeted: “Democracy damned! Sudden proroguing of Parliament by Modi Govt is a clear act of legislative dishonesty and constitutional impropriety!”
Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu dismissed Congress criticism as illogical.
“A situation is created in a state where there is constitutional breakdown. The state could not get its Appropriation Bill passed. If the Appropriation Bill is not passed, the employees of the state will not get their salary from April 1 and the development of the state will come to a standstill,” he added.
