The Supreme Court on Wednesday stayed the Uttarakhand High Court verdict quashing President's Rule in the state. The apex court also ruled out a floor test for former Chief Minister Harish Rawat in the state Assembly, which was scheduled for April 29. President's Rule will continue in the state at least till the next hearing in the Supreme Court on May 3.
The apex court had last week stayed the high court’s verdict quashing President’s Rule in the state till April 27. The order for President’s Rule was passed in March a day before Rawat was to prove his majority in the state Assembly. The Congress had won 32 seats of the 70-member Assembly in the 2012 polls, and relied on the support of five other members for their majority. The Bharatiya Janata Party won 28 seats in the state.
Meanwhile, the Uttarakhand High Court continued hearing a plea filed by nine rebel Congress legislators who were disqualified by Speaker Govind Kunjwal under the anti-defection law. The rebel Congress legislators have argued that the Speaker did not give them enough time to respond to his disqualification order, and that they were not provided of proof of their anti-party activity, reported Hindustan Times.
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