The Supreme Court on Wednesday gave its green signal for floor test in the Maharashtra Assembly today as it refused to stay the state governor’s decision, which was challenged by Shiv Sena chief whip Sunil Prabhu.
The Supreme Court bench said, ‘We are not staying today’s floor test.
The court also issued notice to Shiv Sena Chief Whip Sunil Prabhu’s plea and said today’s floor test would be subject to the outcome of the present petition. The court will hear his plea on July 11.
A vacation bench of Justices Surya Kant and JB Pardiwala had earlier in the day reserved judgment on a petition filed by Sunil Prabhu, seeking a direction to Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari’s Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to conduct a floor test on June 30 (Thursday). was challenged.
The MVA government in Maharashtra is facing a political crisis after a rebellion in Shiv Sena. Rebel MLAs led by Eknath Shinde are camping in Guwahati.
“First and foremost is to decide whether to remove the Speaker or not,” senior advocate Neeraj Kishan Kaul, representing rebel Shiv Sena minister Eknath Shinde, told the bench in the Supreme Court, referring to Nabam Rebia’s decision. That disqualification cannot be decided. Until a decision is taken on the removal of the speaker.
“This unfolding situation requires a floor test and the Governor in his discretion has decided to conduct it. I have seen everyone eager to take the floor test. I have rarely seen a party that is so afraid of conducting a floor test. Normally parties run to court to get floor test done because someone else is hijacking the party. Here, the reverse is sought, the party does not want any floor test. Where is the natural dance of democracy? They said.
Senior advocate AM Singhvi, appearing for Prabhu, said it has been repeatedly argued by the other side that the Speaker is always ambiguous, always a political one, “but the Governor is a holy cow”.
“That Governor can never be wrong, but Speaker, the personality designated under 10th Schedule is political. Those who believe that Speaker is only political and Governor can never be political, I tell them, get up and smell the coffee.” Don’t live in ivory towers. It’s a governor who hasn’t allowed nominations to MLCs for a year.”
“Does the Governor have a single sentence in the order that the matter is sub judice before the Supreme Court and yet I am experimenting? Two days before the governor’s arrival at Raj Bhavan, yesterday, he meets the Leader of the Opposition and issues orders today. But the speaker should always be suspicious. The governor is not who. They are human.
The Governor did not address the issue under consideration. He did not verify. He did not call the chief minister for his idea,” Singhvi said. Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari has asked the Uddhav Thackeray government in the state to prove its majority on the floor of the House on June 30, saying the “current political scenario” in the state paints a “very disturbing picture”.
The governor wrote to the state assembly secretary asking him to convene a special session of the state assembly today with the sole agenda of a trust vote against CM Thackeray.
As per the notification, the session will start at 11 am and will be telecast live.
BJP leader and former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had met the governor on Tuesday evening after returning from Delhi and handed over a letter to him demanding an immediate floor test.