Kapil Sibal questions the revocation of President's Rule in Maharashtra in Supreme Court

Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, who is representing Shiv Sena on Monday questioned the revocation of President's Rule in Maharashtra in the Supreme Court which was hearing the petition over the government formation in the state.

'What was the national emergency?'

"What was the hurry that President's rule was revoked at 5:17 in the morning? There is a prima-facie case. What was the national emergency that President's rule was revoked at 5:17 am and swearing-in was at 8 in the morning. President's Rule was revoked at 5:17 am that means everything happened before 5:17. See the conduct of authority, Governor could not wait for 24 hours? What is the hurry to revoke President's rule at wee hours? Everything happened between 7 pm to 5 am," Sibal told the bench comprising of Justices NV Ramana, Ashok Bhushan and Sanjiv Khanna.

Advocate Sibal argued that the floor test should be conducted in 24 hours in "full light". "The Supreme Court's year should be applied in the floor test. The senior member of the house to conduct the floor test, videography and single ballot. It is on the cover of the dark night that some new opportunities come knocking. Let the floor test be conducted in full light." Sibal pointed out that the promises made by BJP to Shiv Sena did not materialise and the former backed out. "That's why we left the pre-poll alliance. It had nothing to do with NCP and Congress," he said.

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SC hearing

Supreme Court order in the hearing which was reserved for tomorrow will take place at 10:30 AM. Arguments from both sides were heard today with the Shiv Sena-NCP-INC alliance pushing for a floor test to be conducted immediately and Senior Counsel Mukul Rohatgi requesting that the CM be given time to respond to the petition. Mukul Rohatgi pushed for a floor test to be conducted after 14 days but later settled for 7 days, stating that would be a more "reasonable time", which will allow the CM to respond to the petition as well conduct a floor test.

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Political scenario

On Monday, Ajit Pawar had dug his heels in by thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister and BJP president Amit Shah, and other BJP leaders and said that he would along with CM Devendra Fadnavis, ensure a stable government. He also changed his Twitter bio to Deputy CM of Maharashtra, while also maintaining that he is an NCP leader. He then asked the NCP to be patient with him.

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Devendra Fadnavis takes oath as CM

After the fallout with the Shiv Sena over Government formation in Maharashtra, after the Assembly elections results, Devendra Fadnavis took oath as Maharashtra Chief Minister on Saturday, while NCP leader Ajit Pawar took oath as the Deputy Chief Minister, in a move that took everyone by surprise. Since then, a Sharad Pawar-led NCP faction which appears to contain most of the MLAs has spoken multiple times of forming a government with Shiv Sena and Congress. 

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(with ANI inputs)