The Supreme Court ordered that the oath to members must be concluded by 5 pm, following which the floor test should be conducted
Mumbai: The Supreme Court today ordered that the Maharashtra floor test be held within 24 hours tomorrow which will be conducted through the open ballot and will be telecast live. The court said the floor test will be conducted by the protem speaker after the members take an oath by 5 pm tomorrow.
The plea challenged Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari’s decision to swear in Devendra Fadnavis as chief minister and Ajit Pawar as his deputy. A three-judge bench comprising justices NV Ramana, Ashok Bhushan, and Sanjiv Khanna will deliver the order shortly.
Yesterday, Justice Khanna had observed that the main question to be examined by the Supreme Court is whether Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis enjoys the majority in the House.
The three-judge Supreme Court bench comprising Justices NV Ramana, Ashok Bhushan and Sanjiv Khanna assemble in the courtroom. The Supreme Court delivered its order on the Maharashtra floor-test shortly. Justice NV Ramana, the senior-most member of the three-judge bench, was reading out the order
The Supreme Court bench said the floor test should be conducted on November 27 (tomorrow). The bench ruled that the floor test is to be conducted through the open ballot and will be live telecast.
The Supreme Court bench has ordered for a floor-test by a protem speaker.
The Supreme Court ordered that the oath to members must be concluded by 5 pm, following which the floor test should be conducted.
Meanwhile, Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi welcomes Supreme Court’s order to conduct the floor test in Maharashtra tomorrow and says that the Maharashtra Progressive Front led by Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP will clear the test.
Senior Congress leader and lawyer Kapil Sibal, who represented ShivSena, also mentioned before the Supreme Court bench about the application to stop Devendra Fadnavis from taking policy decisions. However, the bench didn’t comment on the matter. Sibal said he hopes good sense will prevail. The Supreme Court has given 8 weeks for all the parties to file replies.
The Congress leader said the Constitution is more powerful than “money and muscle power”.
Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan said that all three parties are happy with the top court decision. Devendra Fadnavis should resign from the Chief ministers post.
The seniority of an MLA is the prerequisite for the appointment of a protem speaker of the Assembly. In the Maharashtra Assembly, two senior-most leaders of the are Balasaheb Thorat of Congress and Kalidas Kolambkar of BJP.
Maharashtra Congress President Balasaheb Thorat has been elected as their legislative party leader. Thorat is the senior MLA and trusted by Congress president Sonia Gandhi and he is also close to Rahul Gandhi.
As an independent media platform, we do not take advertisements from governments and corporate houses. It is you, our readers, who have supported us on our journey to do honest and unbiased journalism. Please contribute, so that we can continue to do the same in future.
