Fadnavis govt constitutional, advocate-general tells HC State advocate-general Sunil Manohar said on Tuesday the Devendra Fadnavis-led government was absolutely legal and constitutional with the voice vote being the valid floor test that proved its majority. Constitutionally, voice vote is the rule and division by head count to prove majority an exception, he told the Bombay high court and termed as baseless a challenge that some petitions raised against formation of the new government on the basis of voice vote. There is no case made out for judicial review of the vote of confidence held on November 12 as the Speaker legally exercised the first option of a voice vote and was satisfied that majority was demonstrated, said the new AG. Manohars submissions followed those by senior counsel Tehmtan Andhyarujina, appearing for Congress MLA Naseem Khan, who challenged the constitutional validity of the voice vote and said the majority had to be proved only by a proper head count in the legislative assembly. A bench headed by Justice V M Kanade, hearing the matter, also has two PILs by Raj Awasthi and Sanjay Patil on the issue. Andhyarujina, a former solicitor-general of India, said, The Speaker called Fadnavis to prove majority, but little did anyone know that the vote of confidence would be a farce. It is impermissible the manner in which the vote was taken. The vote of confidence has not been taken under Article 164(2)... it has to be taken on the floor of the House, but not in a slip-shod manner. The governor had invited the BJP, the single largest party in the state polls, to form the government. Manohar faulted the foundation of the pleas which, he said, questioned only the validity of the voice vote on a misconceived notion that the government needed a 145-member majority. Only if the Speaker acts extremely perversely, which is not the case here, can the HC intervene... else, a no-confidence motion against the Speaker could have been raised, said Manohar. S G Aney, special counsel for the state in one of the PILs, said, There is no such thing that the majority has to be over 50% votes. He will continue his submissions on Wednesday.
Posted on: Wed, 03 Dec 2014 08:05:15 +0000
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