The Hindu : Front Page : Supreme Court orders composite floor test in Jharkhand on Friday

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Thursday, Mar 10, 2005

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Supreme Court orders composite floor test in Jharkhand on Friday

By J. Venkatesan

NEW DELHI, MARCH 9. The Supreme Court today directed the pro tem Speaker of the Jharkhand Legislative Assembly to conduct a composite floor test in the Assembly on March 11 (instead of March 15) to ascertain who enjoyed the majority — the Chief Minister, Shibu Soren, appointed by the Governor or the former Chief Minister, Arjun Munda.

A three-Judge Bench, comprising the Chief Justice R.C. Lahoti, Justice Y.K. Sabharwal and Justice D.M. Dharmadhikari, held that the petitioner, Arjun Munda, had made out a strong prima facie case for grant of interim relief.

The Bench observed: "If the averments of the petitioner are correct, then the action of the Governor [in appointing Mr. Soren] is a fraud on the Constitution. We want to prevent a further fraud on the Constitution by issuing interim directions."

The Bench also restrained the Governor, Syed Sibtey Razi, from nominating an Anglo-Indian member to the Assembly, saying this could wait till a legitimate government took over after the floor test. It said that only the duly elected members of the House would participate in the floor test.

The Bench advanced the floor test date, wondering why the Governor had given five days more to the Soren Government to prove its majority, though the MLAs were to take oath on March 10. The Governor had himself advanced the date of the floor test from March 21 to March 15 after the President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, summoned him. "When the action of the Governor had bothered the President to summon him, how can we shut our eyes to all the happenings," the Judges asked.

Only agenda

The Bench directed that the pro tem Speaker, Pradeep Kumar Balmuchu, administer the oath of office to the newly-elected members tomorrow as fixed by the Governor. On the next day, the floor test should be conducted and this should be the only agenda of the Assembly. The Judges said the proceedings of the House on March 11 should be peaceful and disturbance-free and warned that any disturbance would be viewed seriously.

It also directed the pro tem Speaker to report to the Court the outcome of the proceedings.

The Judges made it clear that the order shall be construed as the notice required for convening the Assembly on March 11 and no separate notice for that purpose would be required. They ordered video recording of the entire proceedings and directed that a copy of the recording be placed before the Court.

The Judges directed the Chief Secretary and the Director-General of Police to see that all the elected-members attended the Assembly and cast their vote safely, freely and securely. They also ordered that nobody influenced or interfered with the proceedings of the House. The Bench passed the order on the lines of an earlier apex court order for a composite floor test in Uttar Pradesh in 1998.

Earlier, senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Mr. Munda, alleged that the Governor had given a long time to Mr. Soren to prove his majority in the House and this could lead to horse-trading. The Governor "murdered" the constitutional conventions of inviting the single largest party or pre-poll alliance to form the government by asking the JMM-Congress, having a combined strength of 26, to form the government despite the NDA having 36 seats . He wanted a retired judge to be appointed as an observer for the floor test.

Senior counsel A. M. Singhvi, appearing for the Jharkhand Government and the DGP, said that the court had no role to play at this juncture.

It would not be proper to appoint an observer for the floor test as the court would not like Parliament or the Legislative Assembly to appoint an observer to watch the court proceedings.

On the nomination of an Anglo-Indian member, Mr. Singhvi said that even the Vajpayee Government and the Nitish Kumar Government had nominated an Anglo-Indian member prior to the trust vote.

While assuring security to the elected MLAs, he requested the court not to tinker with the constitutional powers vested with the Governor and the Speaker for conducting the Assembly.

The Bench, however, brushed aside his objections and passed the interim order and posted the case for further hearing on March 14.

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