Supreme court notice to Kamal Nath over trust vote, hearing tomorrow

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, Mar 17, 2020: The Supreme Court has issued a notice to the Kamal Nath government in Madhya Pradesh over a petition filed by the BJP seeking a trust vote in the assembly. The court has sought a response from the state government by tomorrow, NDTV reported.

 

Kamal Nath on Monday said that he had the numbers after his Congress government was asked by the Governor to prove its majority by today, hours after it appeared to have snagged a 10-day breather with the assembly session being adjourned until March 26 over coronavirus.

Former Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and nine other BJP MLAs, including the leader of opposition in the state assembly, approached the Supreme Court on Monday just after Speaker NP Prajapati adjourned the house.

In a letter to Kamal Nath, Governor Lalji Tandon said: "If you don’t take a floor test by March 17, it will be assumed that you have lost your majority." The Governor also called the Chief Minister’s letter to him criticising him for asking the Speaker for a trust vote today as "meaningless, baseless" and against constitutional values.

The BJP, which is confident it has the majority to take power, went to the Supreme Court yesterday, asking for a test of strength within 12 hours.

Today, a top court bench headed by Justice DY Chandrachud said that it will issue the notice to the state government and others, including the secretary of the legislative assembly, for tomorrow at 10:30 am.