Uttarakhand HC Delays Floor Test, Retracts Earlier Order
The Centre moved the Uttarakhand High Court, challenging an interim order by a single bench directing a floor test.
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The Uttarakhand High Court retracted its earlier order on the floor test in the Uttarakhand Assembly after the Centre had challenged it on Wednesday.
The Centre had moved the High Court against an interim order directing a floor test in the Assembly on 31 March, delaying it from 28 March.
The next hearing in the case will be held on 6 April. Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi represented the Centre.
The interim order was passed by a single bench days after President’s rule was imposed in the state.
The petition was mentioned before a division bench of the high court comprising Chief Justice KM Joseph and Justice VK Bisht.
The petition sought clarity on whether the floor test can be held in the state Assembly after the promulgation of President’s rule when the House is in suspended animation.
Disqualified MLAs Can Vote Too
After a two-day hearing on a writ petition challenging the imposition of President’s rule in the state, Justice UC Dhyani, in an interim order on Tuesday, directed a floor test in the Assembly on 31 March.
He allowed even the nine disqualified rebel MLAs of the Congress to vote during the exercise.
Speaker Kunjwal had disqualified nine Congress MLAs under the anti-defection law hours after imposition of President’s rule in the state on 27 March, a day before the state government was scheduled to go for a floor test in the Assembly.
Filed by former Chief Minister Harish Rawat through his counsel and senior lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi, the writ petition has the Union of India as the respondent.
Another petition was filed by suspended Congress MLAs of Uttarakhand challenging their disqualification by Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal.
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