The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to intervene with the Maharashtra Governor’s direction to Uddhav Thackeray-led SS-NCP-Cong ruling coalition to prove majority in Assembly on June 30, with voting at 5 pm.
BREAKING: Maharashtra floor test to proceed tomorrow, Supreme Court declines to stay floor test
— Shiv Aroor (@ShivAroor) June 29, 2022
A Bench comprising of Justices Surya Kant & J B Pardiwala said it is ordering notice on the petitions and that Thursday’s floor test proceedings will be subject to the final outcome of the writ petition by SS chief whip Sunil Prabhu, who termed Governor’s direction for floor test as illegal. SC to hear Prabhu’s petition with rebel MLAs’ challenge to disqualification proceedings on July 12.
The top court also allowed jailed MLAs Nawab Malik and Anil Deshmukh to participate in the floor test in the Special Session of Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha tomorrow. Since they are in judicial custody in cases registered by ED/CBI, the court asked both the agencies to escort them to the Vidhan Sabha hall and bring them to judicial custody after the proceedings are over.
Earlier today, Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari wrote to the state assembly and called for a special session on June 30, Thursday. The only agenda of the session is a trust vote against Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.
The floor test will be conducted at 11 AM tomorrow and is to be concluded by 5 PM the same day. This came after Devendra Fadnavis, leader of the opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly, approached the Governor along with 8 Independent MLAs and demanded a floor test. The Shiv Sena had moved to the top court challenging the Governor’s order of a floor test.
Over 50 rebel MLAs who have been camping in Guwahati hotel in Assam are expected to leave for Maharashtra to be present in the Assembly tomorrow morning. Earlier in the day, the rebel MLAs visited the Kamakhya temple and offered prayers. Eknath Shinde, the Shiv Sena MLA who is leading the rebel MLAs said that they will return to Mumbai tomorrow and take part in the floor test while following all protocols.
