Supreme Court order on Maharashtra floor test shortly

New Delhi The Supreme Court Monday said it will pass an order at 1030 am on Tuesday on the issue of floor test for the Maharashtra government led by Devendra Fadnavis whose swearingin has been challenged by Shiv SenaNCPCongress combineThe order by a bench of justices NV Ramana Ashok Bhushan and Sanjiv Khanna is keenly awaited as the combine has sought advancement of the floor test for which the BJPled government was granted 14 days on November 23 by Governor Bhagat Singh KoshyariThe deadline for the floor test was apprised by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi who was representing FadnavisIn the House of 288member Maharashtra Assembly BJP is the singlelargest party with 105 MLAs followed by the Shiv Sena 56 MLAs NCP 54 MLAs and Congress 44 MLAsThe combine was pressing for the floor test on Monday itself which was opposed by Fadnavis and Deputy chief minister Ajit PawarMehta appearing for the Centre and the secretary to Governor said The Governor was immune to the proceedings in the apex courtHe said the BJP had the support of all 54 NCP MLAs to form the government and asked for 23 days to file a reply to the combines plea by asserting that the Governor had in his absolute discretion invited the largest party to form the government on November 23The Governor was not supposed to conduct a roving and fishing inquiry to ascertain which party had the numbers to form government he saidAfter perusing Koshyaris letter inviting Fadnavis the bench said it has to be decided whether the Chief Minister enjoyed majority on the floor of the HouseMehta said the Governor had invited the Shiv Sena the BJP and the NCP for forming the government and Presidents rule was imposed only after they failedSenior advocate Maninder Singh appearing for Ajit Pawar told the bench that the Governor had rightly invited Fadnavis to form governmentI am the NCP Singh said on behalf of Ajit Pawar There is nothing to contradict my list I was authorised to lend support on the day I gave that letter I will resolve disputes within my party but this petition must end nowSenior advocate Kapil Sibal appearing for the Sena referred to a presser of the three parties where Uddhav Thackeray was declared the combines CM face in MaharashtraWhere was a national emergency to revoke the Presidents rule at 527 am and the CM being administered oath at 8am the next morning he saidThe combine has the affidavits of 154 MLAs supporting it If the BJP has the numbers it should be asked to prove majority within 24 hours he said Senior advocate AM Singhvi appearing for NCP and Congress said it was a fraud of the worst kind and asked whether a single NCP MLA told Ajit Pawar of pledging support to himMehta submitted the letters of the Governor and Fadnavis as asked on Sunday by the bench which said on Monday it was not considering the combines plea that they be invited to form governmentRohatgi said prepoll alliance partners from both sides had turned foesHe said the NCP through its legislative party leader Ajit Pawar had switched over to prepoll opponent BJP leaving his uncle Sharad Pawar who joined hands with the Sena which was the NCPs prepoll opponentRohatgi said Fadnavis had Ajit Pawars letter of support of 170 MLAs It is nobodys case that the documents submitted by Fadnavis to the Governor are forged Rohatgi said that some kind of a feud was going on in the Pawar familyOne Pawar is with me another Pawar is here in the Supreme Court he said adding that the combine was unnecessarily alleging that some kind of horsetrading was going onIn fact till Friday they were indulging in horse trading he addedNow the question is that can this court say whether a floor test can be ordered within a particular timeframe Rohatgi saidThe combine is asking the Supreme Court to decide how the Governor and the Assembly should act he said adding that it could not interfere with the House procedure which is regulated by Assembly rulesThe attack on Governor is completely unfounded Governor in his letter has asked for proving the majority Given the fact that there is no alternative should this Court act in appellate jurisdiction and say that it should not be 10 days but 3 daysGovernor has absolute discretion in choosing a person Floor test is imperative It can happen at various points of time It is the discretion of the Speaker Rohatgi arguedMehta said nobody was disputing that a floor test was an ultimate test and no party could say it had to be conducted in 24 hours He also questioned whether the apex court could monitor the proceedings of the House which was constitutionally barredThe combine said there was a prima facie case for passing an interim order What was the urgency for revocation of Presidents rule and giving oath to Fadnavis as chief minister Is there anything on record to show urgency Sibal and Singhvi asked If the BJP has the majority why is it worried I am happy to lose on the floor of the AssemblySinghvi said the letters to the Governor had no mention of even a single MLA of NCP supporting BJP This is perjury This is fraud on democracy he submitted which was opposed by RohatgiSinghvi said he raised perjury argument to shock the conscience of the court He also submitted there have been instances where court directed test to be conducted in 2448 hours to preserve purity of democracyCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get the latest updates