MP Crisis: BJP Moves SC Over Floor Test; Plea to Be Heard Tomorrow

The Supreme Court of India. 

(Photo: Reuters)

Ten BJP MLAs, including former CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan, have moved the Supreme Court challenging the decision of the Speaker of the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly to not conduct a floor test on Monday, 16 March.

The petition was initially filed before the adjournment of the Assembly till 26 March on Monday. When it was mentioned before the registrar on Monday, the BJP MLAs raised the issue of the adjournment, and asked for an urgent hearing.

They are now specifically challenging the adjournment of the Assembly, and have asked the court to order a floor test within 12 hours.

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear the matter on an urgent basis on Tuesday, 17 March. The court’s website that a bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and Hemant Gupta will hear the case, which has been listed as Shivraj Singh Chouhan vs Speaker, Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly.

(Source: sci.gov.in)

The original petition filed in the apex court argued that the Speaker's decision to not include the floor test in the Assembly's list of business for 16 March contradicted the orders of the Governor to conduct the floor test on that day, which Chief Minister Kamal Nath had also agreed to.

The BJP MLAs noted that recent judgments of the Supreme Court, including in the Karnataka and Maharashtra cases, had clearly held that when there was a situation where it is unclear who can form the government, a floor test needs to be conducted as soon as possible.

This is in keeping with the judgment of the Supreme Court in the landmark SR Bommai case as well.

As the Speaker had failed to order a floor test, the petition argues his actions were illegal and asked the apex court to issue a direction to conduct a floor test in the Assembly within 12 hours.

The apex court had informed the petitioners that they needed to cure three defects in the petition so that it can be heard on Tuesday, 17 March, which have now been fixed.