By Ritika Jain
Shiv Sena told the Supreme Court that Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari's decision to call for a floor test to prove their majority in the house is illegal and malafide, allegedly taken at the "aid and advice of the leader of the opposition".
The plea submits that the governor decided to order a floor test barely hours after he met the leader of the Opposition. The decision only shows the "undue haste" with which Koshyari acted without even asking the CM for his views in respect of the political scenario in the State, the plea added.
The governor's direction ordering a floor test is a clear attempt to shield the [rebelling] MLAs from the punishment entailed on account of the constitutional sin of defection, Shiv Sena said.
The Supreme Court will hear Shiv Sena's plea today at 5 pm. Following that, the bench will also hear pleas filed by jailed NCP leader Anil Deshmukh and Nawab Malik who have sought temporary release from prison to attend and participate in the floor test scheduled for tomorrow morning.
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Governor's action illegal, at aid and advise of leader of opposition: Shiv Sena
Shiv Sena said the floor test scheduled for tomorrow is in complete defiance of the fact that the Supreme Court has not yet decided on the issue pertaining to the disqualification of the 16 MLAs that rebelled.
The Supreme Court on Monday extended the deadline from June 27 to July 12 for 16 rebel Shiv Sena MLAs to respond to their disqualification notices providing a shot in the arm for the Eknath Shinde-led breakaway faction. The top court was slated to hear the matter next when it re-opened after the summer break.
Shiv Sena said that the communications sent to the governor are entirely based on media reports with no concrete material whatsoever. "None of the 39 MLAs, it appears, have individually or collectively written to the Hon'ble Governor about their decision to withdraw support from the MVA-led government," it added.
While there is no doubt that a floor test is a constitutional mandate to ascertain who has the majority as our democracy is founded on the rule of the majority, it is equally important to consider the Tenth Schedule which prescribes and outlines who can be entitled to vote or be a part of the Assembly, the petition said.
"A person who commits the 'constitutional sin of defection' already loses his membership on the date of commission of the sin of defection," Shiv Sena's plea read.
In his plea, Shiv Sena Chief Whip Sunil Prabhu contended that the rebelling MLAs already lost their membership on the day they voluntarily gave up their membership from the Shiv Sena on June 21-22. "The disqualification proceedings under the Tenth Schedule are only a formal adjudication of this fact or otherwise of disqualification. The order of the Speaker/Deputy Speaker is an ex post facto recognition of the event of disqualification which had occurred at an anterior point of time," he added.
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