Uttarakhand high court

The Supreme Court today cleared the decks for ousted Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat to prove his legislative majority in the state assembly on Tuesday, but nine disqualified rebel Congress legislators won't be allowed to vote.

The top court said it would monitor the voting that is to take place at 11 a.m. The entire proceedings of the house will be videographed, the court said.

The two-judge division bench of Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Shiva Kirti Singh also ordered that President's Rule in the hill state will be kept in abeyance from 10.30 a.m. to 1 p.m. for the house proceedings.

The order came after the central government informed the court that it was ready to conduct a floor test in Uttarakhand only if it is done under the top court's supervision.

"There should be one agenda (for the short session in the assembly). It should only be a test of strength between the two political alliances in the assembly," Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi told the court, appearing for the central government.

Rohatgi told reporters that the voting record and the videographed proceeding would be handed over to the Supreme Court on Wednesday.

Uttarakhand has been under President's Rule since 27 March after the central government dismissed the Congress government led by Rawat, citing constitutional crisis in the hill state.

The central government invoked the controversial Article 356 to remove Rawat saying his government was in minority after nine Congress legislators rebelled.

President's Rule was lifted for a few hours in the state following an Uttarakhand High Court order on 21 April. It was reimposed by the Supreme Court a day later.

Uttarakhand was plunged into political crisis after nine Congress legislators, including former chief minister Vijay Bahuguna, whom Rawat replaced, rebelled and turned to the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The crisis peaked on 18 March when the assembly passed a finance bill by voice vote even as the opposition, backed by the rebel Congress members, demanded recorded voting. The BJP cried foul after Speaker Govind Kunjwal declined.

Rawat was then asked by Governor KK Paul to prove his majority on 28 March. Two days ahead of the voting, Speaker Kunjwal disqualified the Congress rebels.

In the 70-member house, the Congress has 27 legislators, excluding the rebels who won't be allowed to take part in the trust vote on Tuesday. The BJP has 28 members. There are six from other parties who have earlier voiced their support for the Congress government.

Rawat would need at least 32 members to support him in the house whose strength has been reduced to 61 after the disqualification of nine members.

Disqualified "rightly or wrongly", the Supreme Court said, the nine Congress members cannot vote in Tuesday's floor test.

The Supreme Court on Friday ordered the Uttarakhand High Court order, removing President’s rule in the hill state and restoring Congress’ Harish Rawat as chief minister, be kept in abeyance till 27 April.

A bench headed by Justice Dipak Mishra, while passing its orders, said the high court will deliver its reasoned judgement by 26 April.

The order came after an hour-long, heated argument on the central government’s petition seeking stay of the high court order.

After not doing so yesterday despite everyone’s expectations to the contrary, the Supreme Court today asked the central government to approach its secretary general for listing its petition challenging the Uttarakhand High Court order setting aside president’s rule in the state.

An apex court bench of Justice Dipak Misra and Justice SK Singh asked Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi to approach the court’s secretary general after he mentioned the central government’s plea challenging high court judgement.

The court said thereafter, Chief Justice TS Thakur will decide which bench will hear the matter.

It is likely that the central government’s plea may come up for hearing later in the day or on Monday.

In a major blow to the BJP-led central government, the Uttarakhand High Court on Thursday set aside president’s rule in the state, restoring Congress leader Harish Rawat as the chief minister, nearly a month after he was ousted.

As news of the Uttarakhand high court quashing President’s rule in the state reached the Supreme Court, suspense was building up whether the Centre would seek an immediate stay by mentioning the matter before Court No.1, where the Chief Justice of India (CJI) TS Thakur and Justice R Banumathi were hearing the pollution matter.

The much-expected floor test in Uttarakhand legislative assembly will not take place on 31 March.

The Uttarakhand High Court (HC) on Monday began hearing a petition filed by the Congress against imposition of President’s Rule in the state on Sunday.

Justice UC Dhyani is hearing the petition. Senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi is representing his party in the case.

The union cabinet recommended imposition of President’s Rule in Uttarakhand on Sunday.

With this, the Uttarakhand assembly was kept in suspended animation after President Pranab Mukherjee signed a proclamation under Article 356, just a day before Chief Minister Harish Rawat was slated to face a floor test to prove the Congress government’s majority.

Congress leaders and Rawat have called the decision a “murder of democracy”.

The Supreme Court refused a district-level judge relief in his petition demanding reservation for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes in the higher judiciary on Monday, reported The Hindustan Times.

The petitioner judge, Kanta Prasad was seeking promotion to the Uttarakhand high court on the basis of his caste. Prasad works as a registrar with the HC’s vigilance department and had claimed in his petition that the collegium should have considered him since there is no representation from his community in the higher judiciary.

A bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) TS Thakur rejected his plea and asked “Where is the rule, which says there has to be a quota for SC/ST in the HC? You cannot claim it as a right.” The bench also clarified that elevation to the HC is on the basis of seniority. “Only because you belong to a particular caste doesn’t mean you should become an HC judge. Has anyone junior to you from the services got promoted? If not, there is no reason for your grievance,” the bench reportedly said.

The bench also suggested Prasad’s lawyer to send his representation to the Supreme Court bench that recently held a detailed hearing on how to improve the appointment system in order to make it more transparent.