SC stays HC order on President’s rule
New Delhi: In a breather to the Modi Government, the Supreme Court on Friday stayed till April 27 the Uttarakhand High Court judgement quashing the imposition of President’s rule in the state in an interim order that also stalled the revival of the Harish Rawat government.
However, the brief order by the apex court came after it took an undertaking from the Centre that it will not revoke the President’s rule, which has been restored by today’s order.
The court clarified that it was passing an interim order as a measure of balance for both the parties as the copy of the verdict was not made available to them, one of the main grounds on which Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi sought a stay on the effect and operation of High Court’s yesterday’s judgement.
“It is directed that the judgement of the High Court shall remain in abeyance till April 27, 2016. That apart, as undertaken by Rohatgi, Attorney General, the Union of India shall not revoke the Presidential Proclamation till the next date of hearing,” a bench comprising Justices Dipak Misra and Shiva Kirti Singh said.
While listing the matter for hearing on April 27, the bench said that the High Court shall provide the judgement passed yesterday to the parties by April 26 and on the same date the copy of the verdict shall also be placed before the apex court.
The Supreme Court’s stay has the effect of undoing the revival of the Congress government led by Harish Rawat by the High Court judgement yesterday, in which the ousted chief minister was asked to prove his majority in the Assembly on Apr 29.
During the hearing, the bench also observed that “as a matter of propriety the High Court should have signed the verdict and made it available to the parties to facilitate them to appeal. It would also have been appropriate for us to do justice.” “If I would have been in the High Court I would have waited for a few days to give effect to it,” Justice Singh said. “Without a copy of judgement we cannot go into justiciability of the President’s rule and for now, we are only concerned with the interim arrangement till the copy is made available,” he said.
The apex court issued notice to Harish Rawat and the Chief Seceretary of the state on the petition by the Centre challenging the quashing of the Presidential proclamation under Article 356 of the Constitution in the state.
Appearing for the Centre, Rohatgi along with senior advocate Harish Salve, pressed for the stay of the High Court judgement. He said how one party can be put at advantage and assume the office of Chief Minister when the other party is pushed to disadvantage in the absence of the judgement.