HC says no floor test in Uttarakhand till April 19, slams Centre for President's rule

In the latest development in the Uttarakhand political crisis, the High Court has said that there will be no floor test in the Assembly till April 19 while directing its ire towards the Centre. The High Court asked the attorney general, appearing on behalf of the Centre, as to what was the hurry to preempt the floor test in the Assembly on March 28 by imposing President's rule a day earlier.

The court pointed that the court proceedings would have been avoided had the Centre waited. Responding to the observations, the Centre told the High Court that it does not care about the fate of nine disqualified MLAs.

Meanwhile, the Congress also filed a fresh plea to block the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from forming government in Uttarakhand.

Earlier on Thursday, the High Court pulled up the Centre, saying it can revoke President’s rule in the state. Cautioning the Centre, the High Court said, "No hanky-panky must be done by April 18 (probable date of next hearing ) or we can pass an order to protect the litigant - like revoke Article 356."

The judge added, "We just want to ensure that some safeguard is in place." The court also granted the Centre time till April 12 for filing its response on two petitions filed by former chief minister Harish Rawat.

On Wednesday, Congress argued that the Centre's contention about division of votes over the finance bill was meaningless.

Earlier, the trust vote was slated for March 28 but the Centre imposed President's Rule on March 27, citing "breakdown of Constitutional machinery" in the state.

This was challenged by Harish Rawat before the single-judge bench of the High Court.

The judge, while ordering the floor test on March 31, had also allowed nine disqualified rebel Congress MLAs to participate in the voting.

On April 1, the High Court had directed the Centre to respond to the writ petition filed by Rawat challenging promulgation of an ordinance by the Union government on the appropriation bill.

Congress had moved the High Court challenging the central ordinance authorising expenditure in the state, which is under President's rule, contending that the Assembly had duly passed the Appropriation Bill on March 18.