Governor, President’s Rule, Floor test: Who argued what in the Supreme Court today

“President’s rule was lifted on Saturday at 5:47 am. At 8 am, two people took the oath of office of CM and Deputy CM. What documents were given by them?” Kapil Sibal argued.

New Delhi| Amid political uproar in Maharashtra, the Supreme Court on Sunday heard the petition of the opposition parties. A bench of Justices NV Ramana, Justice Ashok Bhushan and Justice Sanjeev Khanna heard the case. The bench issued notices to the Center, Maharashtra government, Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar in the case. The court asked the Solicitor General to present the letter written by the Governor before the court at 10.30 am tomorrow so that the order can be issued on that basis. The court will give the appropriate order tomorrow. Meanwhile, Sharad Pawar reached the Renaissance Hotel to meet NCP MLAs.

Kapil Sibal’s arguments from ShivSena

• “We troubled you on Sunday, we apologize for this.” The majority figure in the assembly is 145. Pre-election coalition gets first chance. But the pre-election alliance broke. Now we depend on the post-election alliance.”
• “ShivSena, NCP and Congress had a press conference in the evening on 22nd November. In this, a Common Minimum Program was announced and it was said that the government would be formed under the leadership of Uddhav Thackeray. But what happened after that was strange. I have never seen such a thing in the country. The presidential rule was lifted. There was no cabinet meeting on this. If there was no cabinet meeting then it was definitely a national emergency. The government was formed under the leadership of Fadnavis at around 8 am. But whether or not the government had a majority remains a mystery. No documents were kept on the public record. The governor was acting on direct instructions of a political party or else such things would not have happened. “
• “President’s rule was lifted on Saturday at 5:47 am. At 8 am, two people took the oath of office of Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister. What documents were given by them? When someone announced at 7 pm that we were going to form the government, then the Governor’s move to administer the oath to others was biased, wrongful and contrary to the rules set by this court. It is strange to recommend the removal of the President’s rule without a cabinet meeting. The Governor was acting on instructions from Delhi. The court should direct a floor test today. If the BJP has a majority, it should prove it in the Assembly. If it does not have a majority, then let us stake claim to form the government. “
• “We have seen this in Karnataka as well. If they have a majority, then let them prove their majority. The people of Maharashtra want a government. We have a majority and we are ready to prove it. We are ready to prove a majority tomorrow.”
• “The time given by the Governor on November 30 to prove the majority to the ruling party is somewhat different.”

Mukul Rohatgi pleaded for Maharashtra BJP

• “I don’t understand why the hearing is being held on Sunday. There should not be such a hearing on Sunday. According to me, this matter should not have been listed. This petition was earlier to be filed in the Bombay High Court. “
• “Can the Supreme Court order advance floor test?” The petition does not have the necessary documents. These people do not know anything. These people were sleeping for three weeks. There is no document to support his claims. “
• See “Article 212″. The validity of proceedings in any assembly cannot be questioned on the grounds that there was an irregularity in their procedure. What if the House passed the bill and said that the Supreme Court should settle all the cases in 2 years.”(All laughed at the court). After this, Justice Ramana said that this can happen, we do not know.”

Abhishek Manu Singhvi argued on behalf of Congress-NCP

• “On the basis of the verified documents signed, prima facie a majority is the norm set by the Governor to proceed. When we announced at 7 pm on Friday that we would stake claim to form the government and Uddhav Thackeray would lead the government, could the Governor not wait? “
• “How can Ajit Pawar become Deputy Chief Minister without the support of just 42-43 seats?” It is a murder of democracy. Ajit Pawar is not the leader of the party. If he does not have the support of his own party then how can he be the deputy CM?”
• “NCP has 54 MLAs. 41 of them are with Sharad Pawar. These 41 MLAs have written to the Governor saying that Ajit Pawar has been removed as the leader of the Legislature Party. Be it the Uttar Pradesh case of 1998 or the Karnataka case of 2018, the Supreme Court has always ordered floor tests immediately. The one who is best can win. So why not get a floor test done today or tomorrow? How can this happen, who took oath yesterday by claiming majority and today he started avoiding floor test? “

Challenge of the Governor’s decision in the petition

The ShivSena, NCP and Congress have challenged Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari’s decision to administer oaths to Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar. In the petition, the opposition termed the Governor’s decision as arbitrary and malicious. The three parties have demanded that the floor test be done within 24 hours of the formation of the government to stop the horse-trading.

Rhetoric of leaders

• Congress leader Ashok Chavan reached Sharad Pawar’s house and said that Ajit Pawar misused the MLAs’ letter. “Pawar Saheb’s MLAs denied any support through the letter. The MLAs clearly state that the letter was misused,” Chavan said.
• NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal said that we have 49-50 MLAs at the moment, 1-2 more can come. All the MLAs are in Mumbai only. In Maharashtra, NCP, Congress and ShivSena will form the government together 100%.
• BJP leader Ashish Shelar said that he (the opposition) is saying that the swearing-in took place at night. “We are the people who go to the ‘Shakha’ in the morning, we call it Rama Prahar. Those who have forgotten Rama will not understand the importance of Rama Prahar. We will follow the order of the Supreme Court. The Governor has given time till 30 November. We will prove the majority with 170 or so MLAs.”
• Sanjay Raut said that CBI, Enforcement Directorate (ED), Income Tax Department and Police are the main functionaries of BJP. “The Governor of Maharashtra is also a BJP worker. Today the BJP is caught in its own trap. Their end has begun. If the governor asks us to prove majority, we can prove it in 10 minutes. Saturday was a dark day for democracy and the country. The Chief Minister of Maharashtra was taking the oath and the public was not aware of it. For the first time, such an incident occurred in the country. Rashtrapati Bhavan and Raj Bhavan were never misused in history.”