The Centre on Thursday decided to move the Supreme Court on Friday to challenge the Uttarakhand High Court’s order quashing the proclamation of President’s Rule in the State even as the BJP questioned the court’s observation on disqualification of nine Congress MlAs wondering “whether it would not influence” the matter pending before the single Bench on the issue.
Attorney General (AG) Mukul Rohatgi said he will mention the matter before the bench of Chief Justice TS Thakur on Friday morning seeking a stay on the verdict that set aside the President’s Rule.
“The High Court was wrong in quashing the Presidential notification. The Presidential notification is based on relevant material,” the AG said referring to the some of the important grounds for challenge to the High Court judgment.
The High Court said the imposition of President’s Rule under Article 356 of the Constitution was contrary to the law laid down by the apex court. “The Appropriation Bill, passed on March 18, was actually not passed and despite that the Speaker certified it which really means the Government has fallen. By the Speaker’s order minority Government was allowed to continue,” Rohatgi said.
Against the backdrop of the High Court’s ruling, BJP president Amit Shah, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh held consultations to work out future strategy in relation to Uttarakhand.
Voicing serious concern over the Court’s observations, BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya, who coordinated the political moves
against the Harish Rawat-led Government, sought to know whether the division Bench’s observations would not prejudice the single Bench’s decision on disqualification.
While setting aside the Governor’s Rule in the State, the Division Bench of the High Court on Thursday upheld the disqualification of nine dissident Congress MlAs, saying they have to pay the price of committing the “Constitutional sin” of defection by being disqualified.
Pointing to the observations of the court, Vijayvargiya said the question be contemplated by the legal experts whether the High Court had jumped the gun on the disqualification when the issue was under consideration of a separate Single Bench of the court. Critical of the court’s ruling, he said its verdict was “on expected lines”.
Asked about the future course of action, Vijayvargiya said the issue would be decided by the floor test on April 29 saying, “The Congress and the BJP have 27 MlAs each on their sides.”
The Uttarakhand Assembly strength is 71 members and with the disqualification of nine members it would be reduced to 62 with one vote constituting that of the Speaker of the Assembly. The role of “unattached” BSP, UKD, Independents and “one rebel each” of the Congress and the BJP would prove to be crucial on the floor test, according to sources.