Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Harin Raval in ex-CM’s challenge to Presidential rule in Uttarakhand

The Uttarakhand High Court today began hearing ex-Chief Minister Harish Rawat’s challenge to the imposition of President’s rule in Uttarakhand. Senior Advocates Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Harin Raval appeared for Rawat..The matter was heard at length today afternoon..In his petition, Rawat has attacked the Central government for overthrowing a democratically elected government and acting in violation of federalism, democracy and rule of law. He has also cited the example of Arunachal Pradesh where a similar situation had unfolded very recently..Rawat in his petition has contended that that there was absolutely no material warranting exercise of powers under Article 356. He has submitted that a floor test was scheduled to be conducted on March 28. However, the Union government in a tearing hurry and with a view to prevent the holding of a floor test took recourse to Article 356 and proclaimed emergency..“It is submitted that the impugned actions of the Respondents taken in great haste on 26.03.2016 and 27.03.2016 is a brazen attempt by the ruling political party at the Centre to overthrow a democratically elected government in the State of Uttarakhand, which was to duly slated to prove its strength on the floor of the House on 28.03.2016 at 11:00 am. …….The impugned actions of the Respondent is a complete affront to the scheme of federal structure envisaged by the Constitution. The issue of a proclamation at a stage when the Government headed by the Petitioner as a Chief Minister was ready to prove its majority on the floor of the House is not conducive to political peace, tranquillity and overall harmony in the State apart from being wholly undemocratic.”.Rawat has further alleged that the Centre has imposed emergency with malafides and it is part of the schematic design of the ruling BJP government to overthrow government in unconstitutional and autocratic manner..“The events leading up to the Presidential Proclamation would show that there was a concerted and pre-planned attempt and design to overthrow the democratically elected Government of the Congress party. The present attempt is a part of the schematic design of the ruling BJP Government to overthrow governments in unconstitutional and autocratic manner..The BJP government at the Centre has been attempting to overthrow democratically elected governments belonging to opposition political parties by unconstitutional means and a recent attempt in this regard was made in the state of Arunachal Pradesh. In the state of Uttarakhand again the ruling BJP government through undemocratic machinations and means had conceived to overthrow/topple the state government.”.The petitioner has placed reliance on SR Bommai v. Union of India, [(1994) 3 SCC 1] to contend that “issuance of Presidential Proclamation one day prior to the floor test is ex facie unconstitutional”.“This Hon’ble Court in a catena of judgments has said that imposition of President’s Rule before a floor test is absolutely illegal and unconstitutional. The present case is a unique example of abuse of constitutional authority in as much as the floor test was in fact scheduled to be conducted in the session of the Legislative Assembly on 28 March 2016…...Furthermore, the essential ingredients for exercise of this jurisdiction under Article 356 are completely lacking. There was absolutely no law and order problem in the state or any breakdown of constitutional machinery whatsoever. It is submitted that the attempt of the Respondent to deny an opportunity to the Government and its Chief Minister to prove its majority on the floor of the House is unconstitutional, ultra vires and violates Article 14 and 21 of the Constitution.”.Regarding the sting operation video, Rawat has submitted that the same is completely doctored and fabricated in order to portray a case for imposition of President’s rule..“It is submitted that the veracity of the video clip was seriously in dispute and was completely unauthenticated. Any reliance on such unauthenticated videos is absolutely illegal to say the least for imposing President’s Rule. In any event of the matter, there was no case of horse trading was evidenced in the purported sting operation. There is no question of any horse trading at all. It is the BJP ruling party which was indulging into large scale activities of promoting defection, corruption and horse trading.”.The petition also traces the events pertaining to the 9 ex-Congress MLAs who rebelled against the ruling Congress government and signed a joint memorandum with the BJP MLAs leading to show cause notice being issued to them by the Governor..“At this stage it is relevant to note that the decision to make some legislators defect from the ruling Congress party in the state, was a well planned and carefully worked out strategy by the BJP at its highest levels. The BJP members involved in this coup are very forthright about their plan and how they went about getting the President’s rule to be imposed. In a recent interview by the BJP, National General Secretary Sh. Kailash Vijayvargiya, and one of the key players in galvanising this defection and turning the MLAs against their own government right upto meeting the Governor. He is blatant about how they timed the floor test, to having threatened the Director General of Police, to how he paraded the 35 MLAs (26 from BJP + 9 defectors from Congress) before the Governor and video taped the same.”.Based on the above, Rawat has prayed for quashing the proclamation of President’s rule and restoring the Congress government in Uttarakhand. He has also prayed for a direction to conduct a floor test in order to prove his majority in the house..The court will hear the Central government tomorrow..Image taken from here.