TheSupreme Court on Tuesday issued notices to Madhya Pradesh Assembly speaker NPPrajapati and Chief Minister Kamal Nath on a petition filed by the BharatiyaJanata Party (BJP).
The BJP has sought direction from the apex court for holding the trust vote in Madhya Pradesh after the Speaker abruptly adjourned the Assembly for ten days on Monday.
Thetop court, however, said that it will hear the matter on Wednesday at 10:30 amby the bench of justices DY Chandrachud and Hemant Gupta.
Prajapatihad cited the outbreak of coronavirus as the official reason for adjourning theHouse till March 26, but the BJP immediately moved the Supreme Court afterMonday's development.
The petitioners – former chief minister Shivraj SinghChouhan and nine other BJP leaders – said that they are approaching the apexcourt as the Speaker and Madhya Pradesh chief minister have violated theconstitutional principles and have deliberately and willfully defied thedirections issued by Governor Lalji Tandon on March 14, requiring Kamal Nath toprove his majority on the floor of Madhya Pradesh legislative assembly.
The Assembly was adjourned shortly after theGovernor's address. The Governor later wrote a letter to Chief Minister KamalNath directing him to conduct the floor test on March 17.
The Congress, meanwhile, said that it is not afraid of the floor test, but wants the Speaker to decide on it.
Before the crisis, the Congress had 114 MLAs, andenjoyed the support of four independent legislators, two MLAs of the Bahujan SamajParty and one legislator of the Samajwadi Party. The BJP has 107 MLAs.
