Nainital HC orders floor test, rejects Centre’s plea for stay

Dehradun: In a hard hitting judgement, the Nainital High Court said "Centre acted in 'blatant falsehood' and also accused Uttarakhand Speaker of "double standards'."

The court further said that Art 356 was imposed in Uttarakhand in contravention to the law laid down by the Supreme Court. The court also directed floor test in the Assembly on April 29.

Rejected Centre’s plea:

Rejecting the plea by the Centre for stay, the court ruled “We won’t stay our own judgement. You can go to the Apex Court and get it stayed.”

The court observed that nine dissident Congress legislators who deserted the party will have to pay the price for committing ‘Constitutional sin’.

Harish Rawat government to stay:

It also said that "Status quo as on date of proclamation of President’s rule be restored. The Harish Rawat-government will revive."

The High Court considered the fate of nine Congress MLAs ‘entirely irrelevant’. Earlier, the Nainital High Court, on Thursday, said that it was 'pained' by the Centre's actions in the case on imposition of President's Rule in Uttarakhand where the Centre was acting like a "private party".

The order was passed by the bench of Chief Justice of Uttarakhand Mr Justice K M Joseph and Justice B K Bisht.

Chief Minister Harish Rawat tweeted and thanked all the Legislators for their support:

कोर्ट का फैसला जनमानस की जीत है, उत्तराखण्ड का जनमानस हमारी ताकत है

— Harish Rawat (@harishrawatcmuk) April 21, 2016

कांग्रेस के अडिग रहे सभी विधायकों का धन्यवाद , अब आने वाली चुनौतियों के लिए तैयारी करेंगे

— Harish Rawat (@harishrawatcmuk) April 21, 2016