SC to hear Sena-NCP-Cong plea seeking quashing of Maha governor's decision to swear in Fadnavis
New Delhi: The Supreme Court is on Sunday set to hear the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress plea seeking quashing of the Maharashtra governor's decision to swear-in BJP's Devendra Fadnavis as chief minister and also demand for an immediate floor test to avoid "further horse trading".
A bench of justices N V Ramana, Ashok Bhushan and Sanjiv Khanna will hear the plea at 11:30 am.
The three parties have also sought a direction to Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari to invite them to form government under the leadership of Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, saying they have the support of more than 144 MLAs.
The petitioners alleged that the governor has acted in a "partisan manner" and allowed himself to be a "pawn in the BJP's illegal usurpation of power".
The parties have further prayed for an "immediate floor test within 24 hours so as to avoid further horse trading and illegal maneuvers to somehow cobble up a majority from the MVA (Maha Vikas Aghadi)".
"It is submitted that the governor has acted in a partisan manner and made a mockery of the high office of governor," the plea filed on Saturday said.
Koshyari's actions on the intervening night of Friday and Saturday, "culminating to swearing in on November 23 are textbook example of the governor acting at the behest of a political party in power at the Centre", it submitted.
The facts in the case demonstrate that the governor has "belittled the constitutional office and has allowed himself to be a pawn in the BJP's illegal usurpation of power", the plea stated.
The governor's action in installing a "minority BJP" government is ex-facie illegal and unconstitutional, the petition, filed through the three parties' advocate Sunil Fernandes, claimed, adding that the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress combine has a "clear majority" in the 288-member state assembly and the BJP "clearly falls short of the halfway mark of 144".
Seeking quashing of the governor's decision inviting Fadnavis to form government, the plea said it is "unconstitutional, arbitrary and illegal", and violates Article 14 of the Constitution.
It said after comprehensive talks, the three parties finalised a common minimum programme for a post-poll alliance called MVA, and on November 22, it was announced that Uddhav Thackeray would be the alliance's chief ministerial candidate.
"Facing the prospect of a non-BJP government staking claim to power, the BJP on the intervening night of November 22 and 23 resorted to political machinations in an attempt to install a completely unconstitutional BJP government in the state," the plea submitted.
The Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress combine has also filed a separate application seeking direction for summoning of a special session of the assembly for swearing-in of MLAs and a floor test.
The parties should be permitted to prove its strength on the floor of the House by holding of a composite floor test, they have demanded.
"In these circumstances the action of the governor in installing a minority government is ex-facie against the basic rule of law and the rule of parliamentary democracy that is rule by majority.
"More importantly the actions of the governor are entirely malafide and for extraneous considerations without even a prima facie satisfaction based on objective material that Fadnavis has majority support of the members of the house, the application said.
It said any action of the governor in inviting a political party to form government has to be based on prima facie satisfaction and objective material which in the present case is completely conspicuous by its absence.
The application sought appropriate directions for summoning a special session of the 14th Maharashtra legislative assembly with the only agenda of administering oath to the MLAs, immediately followed by the holding of a floor test on November 24".
"The gross malafide, arbitrariness and illegality is writ large on the face of the impugned actions of the governor as he has proceeded to swear-in a chief minister who is well short of the majority mark of 145 in the assembly by 40 MLAs," it said.
The governor on November 10 had turned down the invitation to form government for lack of numbers.
The application also sought direction for furnishing relevant records from the governor's office with regard to the invitation to Fadnavis to form government on Saturday, the satisfaction of the governor as to the support enjoyed by Fadnavis of a majority of MLAs in the assembly and his subsequent swearing in as the CM.
Video recording of the floor test and placing copies of the video before the court and appointing a pro-tem speaker to preside over the conduct of the floor test were also sought in the application.
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Trump returns from China; terms meeting with Xi as 'G-2'
Washington (PTI): US President Donald Trump returned from a visit to China, describing his discussions with President Xi Jinping as a meeting of leaders of "two great countries".
Trump landed at the Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on the outskirts of the US capital on Friday evening, claiming to have struck important trade deals, including one for China's purchase of 200 aircraft from Boeing, with a promise for another 750, as well as agreements benefiting the American agriculture sector.
The US President reached here after a brief refuelling stop at Anchorage in Alaska.
“It’s the two great countries. I call it the G-2. This is the G-2. I think it’ll go down as a very important moment in history,” Trump told Fox News in an interview after meeting Xi on Thursday.
The Washington Post reported that Trump’s remarks put China on an equal footing with the US, exactly what Xi had aimed to achieve with the visit.
“Over two days of meetings here, the carefully choreographed pageantry and the reciprocal gestures of friendship and respect between the world’s two most powerful men displayed a geopolitical dynamic that the Chinese have long craved and Americans had resisted," the Post said.
Trump told Fox News that the relationship with Xi was important and suggested that China may not resort to any aggressive moves over Taiwan, at least till he is in office.
“It’s not a takeover. They just don’t want to see this place — we’ll call it a place because nobody knows how to define it — but they don’t want to see it go independent,” Trump said.
“I don’t think they’ll do anything when I’m here. When I’m not here. I think they might, to be honest with you,” Trump said.
"I want them to cool down. I want China to cool down," he said.
"We're not looking to have wars, and if you kept it the way it is, I think China's going to be OK with that," he added.
The US President said he had invited Xi for a visit to Washington in September.
“Xi has done something Chinese leaders have been working toward for decades — bringing an American president to Beijing as an undisputed peer,” said Julian Gewirtz, who served as China director on the National Security Council under President Joe Biden.
“Xi used the opulent optics of the visit to make clear to the world that China and the United States are the two dominant, equally matched superpowers. There is no going back.”
Trump’s friendly statements toward Xi and the Chinese people were being amplified in China’s state-controlled media, sending the message that “we’re getting along better with the Americans,” John Delury, a senior Fellow at the Asia Society, was quoted as saying by The New York Times.
It was understandable that Trump wanted to be polite to Xi, but that the American president’s gushing approach “weakens Trump and the US”, R. Nicholas Burns, the ambassador to China during the Biden administration, was quoted as saying in The New York Times.
“Xi did not hesitate to warn Trump over Taiwan. Trump should not hesitate to be frank about our concerns, too,” he said.
Trump and Xi are expected to meet at least three times this year.
The US President has invited Xi to the White House in September.
Trump may travel to Shenzhen in China for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in November. And Xi could come to the G-20 summit in December in Miami.
“This is a summit again that was heavier on symbolism than it was on substance — focus on managing problems, not on solving the problems that exist between the US and China,” said Rush Doshi, former National Security Council deputy senior director for China and Taiwan in the Biden administration.
“The way that both leaders talked about the future indicates that this is going to be part of a process that will play out this year,” said Kurt Campbell, former deputy secretary of State in the Biden administration.
