Uttarakhand high court sets aside proclamation of President's rule in state

NEW DELHI: The Nainital High Court has struck a blow to BJP-led central government by setting aside the imposition of President's rule in Uttarakhand that has virtually revived Harish Rawat Government back in the state which was dismissed on March 27.

What is worse, the court has set a April 29 as a deadline for floor test in Uttarakhand assembly.

This has also given a moral high ground to Congress which had gone to the court against dismissal of Harish Rawat government to impose central rule.

Highly placed sources in the BJP indicated that they will ask Central Government's legal officers to explore challenging the High Court verdict in the Supreme Court and seek a stay on High Court's ruling.

BJP insiders, meanwhile, were busy arranging for enough legislators to stake claim for forming government in Uttarakhand.


But, arithmetically BJP appeared to be in a spot over the status of 9 rebel Congress MLAs disqualified by the Assembly Speaker last month. "Till there is no legal relief for these rebels, the incumbent Speaker's order disqualifying them will stand. The Speaker will not allow them to enter the House and participate in the floor test," lamented a BJP leader over the difficulty before the party.

Incidentally, the High Court, in a separate case, is examining the issue of disqualification of 9 Congress rebel MLAs is likely to pronounce its ruling on April 23, less than a week before the floor test on April 29.: In a setback for the Centre, the Uttarakhand high court has set aside imposition of President's rule in the state.

The HC order came on a plea of ousted chief minister Harish Rawat, who had challenged the imposition of President's rule in the state.

The high court had criticized the Centre during a previous hearing over the imposition of the President's Rule in Uttarakhand on March 27, a day before a floor test was due to be carried out in the assembly.

The Uttarakhand High Court on Wednesday said that the president of India is not a king who is infallible but can go wrong and that his decision is open to judicial scrutiny.

"Absolute power can spoil anybody's mind. Even the president can go wrong and in such case his decisions can be subjected to scrutiny. Indian courts have the power to scrutinise all orders," the court said.

Uttarakhand was plunged into a political crisis when nine Congress legislators, including former chief minister Vijay Bahuguna, whom Rawat replaced, revolted against the chief minister and turned to the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for support.

In the 70-member assembly, the Congress has 36 legislators, including the nine rebels. The BJP has 28. The other six members, from smaller parties, are said to support the Congress.