New Delhi: Uttarakhand continues to be under President's Rule after the Supreme Court on Tuesday deferred hearing on the Centre's appeal against the Nainital High Court’s verdict.
The apex court asked Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi to take instruction from the Centre on the possibility of holding a floor test under SC supervision and fixed the next date of hearing on May 4.
The development came after the Nainital High Court on April 21 declared the President's rule imposed in the state on March 27 as unconstitutional. The court had also ordered the floor test on April 29.
But the Centre moved the Supreme Court and on April 22, the apex court ruled that there would no floor test in the Uttarakhand Assembly on April 29 and that President's rule in the state would remain in force till the next hearing.
The SC, before posting the matter for its next hearing on May 3, had also said it would try to give a verdict by May 13.
Earlier the court asked some tough questions to the Centre over the Uttarakhand crisis. The apex court questioned whether proceedings in the Assembly could be considered for imposing President's rule. The court also sought an answer on when the President's rule comes into the picture with regards to the Appropriation Bill.
"Could the Governor have sent the message in the present manner under Article 175 (2) for conducting floor test? Is disqualification of MLAs by the Speaker a relevant issue for the purposes of invoking President's rule under Article 356?" the court asked.
President's rule was imposed in Uttarakhand on March 27, just ahead of a trust vote by the Harish Rawat government.
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