Affirming its claim of holding majority in the Vidhan Sabha, the Congress submitted a memorandum signed by 34 MlAs to the Governor KK Paul on Monday. While maintaining that imposition of president’s rule in Uttarakhand is not in accordance with the Constitution of India, the party has also stressed that the State is not facing any financial crisis requiring emergency measures. Having filed a petition in the Uttarakhand High Court against imposition of president’s rule, the Congress is confident that its stand will be substantiated in the court of law, said the State’s ex-Finance and Parliamentary Affairs minister Indira Hridayesh on Monday.
Addressing the media at the Bijapur guest house after submitting the memorandum at the Raj Bhawan, Hridayesh said that the Congress-led State Government led by Harish Rawat as the chief minister was to prove its majority in the Vidhan Sabha on Monday- March 28.
She said, “The government was not given the opportunity to prove its majority in the Vidhan Sabha with the president’s rule being imposed upon the State. We submitted a memorandum to the governor signed by 34 MlAs stating that our member strength in the State Assembly is adequate to run a stable government in the State. There is clear and complete majority in our favour in the present Vidhan Sabha,” she said. In the memorandum submitted to the Raj Bhawan, the governor has also been requested to protect the provisions of the Indian Constitution and parliamentary traditions. Hridayesh further said, “We also submitted to the Raj Bhawan various constitutional points that validate our position. Page number 723 of Practice and Procedure of Parliament by constitutional experts Kaul and Shekhar states that the motion for leave to introduce an Appropriation bill cannot be opposed as the Bill is introduced only after the relevant demands have been voted by the House. On page number 725 it is stated that no amendment can be proposed to an Appropriation Bill which will have the effect of varying the amount or altering the destination of any grant so made or of varying the amount of any expenditure charged on the Constitutional Fund of India, and the decision of the Speaker as to whether such an amendment is inadmissible is final. Further it is stated on page number 728 that the Finance Bill has to be passed by Parliament and assented to by the President.”
Hridayesh said, “Our memorandum to the governor further cites page number 1506- 95.1 of Parliamentary Procedure Volume by constitutional expert Subhash C Kashyap which states that no debate is permitted on Appropriation (Vote on Account) Bill. On page number 1534-115.1 it is stated that the amount in an Appropriation Bill cannot be altered. Further, page number 1540- 118.1 states that Appropriation Bill is introduced and passed after the Demands for Grants have been made and the Finance Bill containing taxation proposals is considered and passed only after the Demands for Grants have been voted.” Senior Congress MlA Navprabhat said that imposition of president’s rule in Uttarakhand was not based on viable grounds.
He said, “The Appropriation Bill was passed by voice vote on the evening of March 18 as per the due procedure. We also state with special emphasis that there is no such financial crisis in Uttarakhand which, as reported by the media, is being cited by the Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley as a ground for imposition of president’s rule in Uttarakhand,” stressed Navprabhat.
MlA and ex-cabinet minister Mantri Prasad Naithani and other Congress office bearers and their supporters were also among those present on the occasion.