Manjhi government can take policy decisions: Patna High court

PATNA: The Patna High court on Wednesday gave the go-ahead to the Jitan Ram Manjhi government to take policy decisions, setting aside the restriction it had imposed just two days earlier, but with critical rider that any such decision can be implemented only after February 21. The Manjhi government faces the trust vote on February 20. The decision came on a day when BJP indicated that it could support the government led by Manjhi, who was expelled by his JD(U) party after he refused to step down in favour of Nitish Kumar.

The court had clamped down on policy decisions in its interim order on Monday owing to the seemingly undue haste shown by the minority government in announcing one populist decision after another.

A division bench of the HC comprising Chief Justice LN Reddy and Justice Vikas Jain provided some relief to the government on Wednesday, saying it can take policy decisions which can be implemented after the trust vote. BJP spokesperson VN Jha said, "MLAs were unanimous that the party should support a Dalit CM. But a formal decision will be taken tomorrow."