NEW DELHI/MUMBAI: The Supreme Court will on Sunday hear the urgent petition moved by Congress, Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party challenging Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari's move regarding government formation in the state.
According to reports, the apex court is expected to take up the case for hearing around 11:30 am. The bench of Justice NV Ramana, Justice Ashok Bhushan and Justice Sanjiv Khanna will hear the joint petition of Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress, challenging Governor's decision to swear-in Devendra Fadnavis as CM.
The three parties had on Saturday moved the SC seeking an urgent hearing on their plea against what they called the "arbitrary and malafide actions/decisions" of Maharashtra Governor inviting Fadnavis to form the government on November 23.
In their plea, the allies alleged that the Maharashtra Governor's invite to BJP's Devendra Fadnavis to form the government and the oath-taking ceremony was illegal and sought quashing of his decision to swear-in BJP's Devendra Fadnavis as chief minister.
It also demanded an immediate floor test to avoid "further horse-trading" and a direction to the Maharashtra Governor to invite them to form the government under the leadership of Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, saying they have the support of more than 144 MLAs.
Addressing the reporters outside the Supreme Court, Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said the three allies had demanded an urgent floor test in Maharashtra Assembly.
"We have asked for an urgent floor test. The law demands a floor test. The registry took our petition. On Sunday at 11:30 am, the Supreme Court will hear the matter. We hope that democracy and law will win," Randeep Surjewala said.
The month-long political impasse in Maharashtra ended dramatically on Saturday morning with Devendra Fadnavis returning as the chief minister, backed by NCP's Ajit Pawar who was sworn-in as the deputy chief minister. Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari administered the oath at the Raj Bhavan in Mumbai at around 7.30 am.
Hours after Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar took the oath, Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court, saying the Governor installed a minority government.
"The petitioners (Shiv Sena, Congress, NCP) are constrained to move the instant Writ Petition under Article 32 of the Constitution in grave urgency seeking reliefs against the arbitrary and malafide actions of the Hon’ble Governor of Maharashtra who has on 23.11.2019 installed a minority BJP government led by Shri Devendra Fadnavis," the plea read.
"Further there is no material in the public domain to show that Shri Devendra Fadnavis had carried letters of support of 144 MLA’s (which in any event was not legally possible to do)" the petition stated.
