Governor did nothing wrong by calling floor test: Senior Advocate Harish Salve on Maharashtra political crisis

New Delhi [India], March 14 : Senior Advocate Harish Salve on Tuesday appearing for the Shinde group said that the then Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari did nothing wrong to call Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government to prove its majority on the floor of the House in 2022 during the state political crisis.
"Governor did nothing wrong by calling the floor test," Salve, who appeared for the Shinde camp, submitted before a constitution bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud.
He further argued before the Supreme Court that the head counting was not meant for taking place in Raj Bhavan but on the floor of the House.
Senior Advocate also argued that Governor cannot entertain people in Raj Bhawan and engage in head counting.
He further said that head counting is not meant for taking place in Raj Bhavan but on the floor of the house and Bommai's verdict has made it clear.
Five-judge Constitution bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justices MR Shah, Krishna Murari, Hima Kohli and PS Narasimha was dealing with the issue related to Maharashtra political crisis.
Countering the argument of the rival Uddhav camp, Senior Advocate NK Kaul, appearing on behalf of the Shinde camp, said that political party and legislative party are conjoined and connected and the argument made by the Uddhav camp that the other factions represent the legislative party and not the political party is a fallacy.
Senior Advocate NK Kaul said that dissent is the hallmark of democracy. He also argued that the opposite camp sought top intervention trying to bypass three Constitutional authorities including the election commission, speaker and governor, which are vested with specific powers.
However, the court remarked that the difficulty arose due to the formulation of the principle of prima facie view but the principle has to be formulated with respect to the decision of the speaker.
The Supreme Court sought to know what will happen if the speaker does not decide for a number of years on such an issue.
Senior Advocate NK Kaul said that while the disqualification petition is pending, the legislator should be allowed to participate and vote, or else there would be a danger to the bedrock of democracy.
"A minority government would be allowed to continue indefinitely. A Chief minister cannot shy away from a floor test, which is an indicator of the confidence he and his government enjoy and this is the reason calling the floor test was not wrong.
Senior Advocate Mahesh Jethmalani, appearing for the Shinde camp, said that they have elevated the entire case to the evil of defection. But, the evil of a speaker and the government hellbent on power is an even greater evil, he said.
Arguing that the principle of majority rule is of paramount importance, he said that that is the reason, the governor can call for a government headed by that person who commands the confidence of the majority.
The hearing that went on for hours remained inconclusive today and will be continued tomorrow. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta will start his arguments tomorrow on behalf of the Maharashtra governor.
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's camp had earlier apprised the Supreme Court about the Shiv Sena party's pre-poll alliance with BJP and reiterated their claim on the right of the party.
A five-judge Constitution bench was hearing a batch of petitions filed by rival factions Uddhav Thackeray and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde in relation to the Maharashtra political crisis.
The Supreme Court's Constitution bench has earlier said it will decide later on referring the cases related to the Maharashtra political crisis to a larger seven-judge bench for reconsideration of a 2016 Nabam Rebia judgment on powers of Assembly Speakers to deal with disqualification pleas.
In 2016, a five-judge constitution bench had held that the assembly speaker cannot proceed with a plea for disqualification of MLAs if a prior notice seeking removal of the speaker is a pending decision in the House.
The judgement had come to the rescue of the rebel MLAs led by Eknath Shinde, now the chief minister of Maharashtra. The Thackeray faction had sought their disqualification even while a notice of the Shinde group for the removal of Maharashtra Assembly deputy speaker Narhari Sitaram Zirwal, a Thackeray loyalist, was pending before the House.