HC stays Governor’s directive for floor test
KOHIMA, JULY 14 (MExN): The Kohima Bench of the Gauhati High Court today stayed the directive of the Governor to the Chief Minister to go for a floor test on or before July 15, 2017, till Monday when the matter will come up for hearing.
This was informed through a press note from the Nagaland Chief Minister’s Office. The CMO added that the Council of Ministers led by the Chief Minister called on the Governor this afternoon where the latter told the Chief Minister to bring about reconciliation amongst the legislators.
Newly elected Chairman of the DAN, Kuzholuzo Nienu, meanwhile told the Governor that the DAN coalition is intact and that the present crisis is only within the NPF party.
In the writ petition filed by the petitioner Dr Shurhozelie Liezietsu before the Kohima Bench of the Guwahati High Court today, it argued that the decision of the Governor asking the petitioner who is also the Chief Minister of Nagaland to conduct a floor test on or before July 15 was “ex facie unconstitutional, illegal, arbitrary and violative of the basic features of the Constitution.”
The CM pointed out that the process of bye elections (in which the petitioner is seeking to be elected) is already under process and that it was “imperative and incumbent upon the Governor to call upon the Petitioner to prove its majority on the floor of the House only pursuant to the by-elections wherein the Petitioner is a candidate.”
The CM’s petition claimed that the Governor by the impugned decision has “virtually sought to strangulate the will of the Council of Ministers and has used the office of the Governor to suit his political needs.” “There is no recommendation from the Council of Ministers to the Governor and the Governor on his own volition chose to impose the impugned decision upon the petitioner without any legal foundation and against constitutional norms,” the CM’s petition alleged.
It further claimed that the Governor, “without affording an opportunity to the Petitioner for a free and fair election for his candidature, has hastily proceeded to reject the request made by the petitioner herein to pre-empt the already scheduled elections.”
The petition added that the decision of the Governor asking the CM to convene an emergent session, communicated on July 13 is “ex facie unconstitutional, illegal, arbitrary and against the well-established constitutional convention of a Chief Minister’s duties and responsibilities to discharge his official functions under the Constitution of India.” “It is submitted that the decision of the Governor dated July 13, 2017 has been taken without even giving an opportunity to the Petitioner and his Council of Ministers,” the petition added.
It alleged that the Governor’s decision is “completely tainted with arbitrariness, malafide, partisanship and has been taken in an extremely hasty manner to pre-empt any staking of claim by the petitioner. As such it is violative of Article 14 of the Constitution.”
The CMO press note informed that the Kohima Bench of Guwahati High Court “was of the tentative opinion that an interim is called for and had stayed the Governor’s letter till Monday, July 17, when the matter will come up for hearing.”
