NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday, while hearing a petition challenging President’s rule in the state, observed that a Chief Minister’s exclusive powers cannot be pre-empted by the Governor, whose powers are limited under the Constitution and should be exercised in a fair manner to ensure survival of democracy.
Observing that the Governor “has no business to call the Assembly session on his whims to test the majority of a Chief Minister and his government”, the Supreme Court asked, “Does it not amount to interfering with the legislative functioning of the House?”
Meanwhile, the apex court also dismissed the pleas of two rebel Congress MLAs of Arunachal Pradesh against a Gauhati High Court decision upholding the action of then Assembly Speaker Nabam Rebia to accept their resignations. “The resignation letters bear your signatures and moreover, why did you (MLAs) keep quiet for almost 10 days (after submitting resignation?” a bench comprising Justices A R Dave and Adarsh Kumar Goel asked while rejecting the appeals of MLAs Wanglam Sawin and Gabriel D Wangsu.