Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, arguing for the Maharashtra Governor's office, on Monday, sought time from the Supreme Court to file a reply while handing over the original letter of Maharashtra Governor inviting BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis to form government in the state
New Delhi: Advocate Mukul Rohatgi appearing for Maharashtra BJP on Monday (November 25) told the Supreme Court that the Governor has absolute discretion to appoint chief minister while adding that it is up to the Speaker to decide when a floor test should be held.
"Governor has absolute discretion to appoint a chief minister. Judicial review is not permitted. The floor test is imperative. But it is the discretion of the Speaker to decide when the floor test is to be held," he told the bench comprising of Justices NV Ramana, Ashok Bhushan and Sanjiv Khanna.
"That the court said floor test is imperative, nobody can question that. A floor test is imperative, but can the court say whether the floor test should be held not after ten days but five days, not five days but four days?" he argued.
"Nobody says the letter of support is fabricated. It is the other Pawar (Sharad Pawar) and the parties which are indulging in horse-trading," Rohatgi underlined.
During the hearing, Justice Sanjiv Khanna said that the floor test was done in 24 hours in most cases and 48 hours in others while citing the past judgement of the court in similar cases.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appearing for Maharashtra's Governor Office sought 2-3 days more to file a reply on the matter.
"The Governor has in absolute discretion invited the largest party on November 23," he said.
Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal represented Shiv Sena and his colleague Abhishek Manu Singhvi represented Congress-NCP in the apex court.
In the recently held 288-member Assembly election, the BJP won 105 seats. Shiv Sena bagged 56 seats. 54 seats went to the NCP while the Congress secured 44 seats.
Read Exclusive COVID-19 Coronavirus News updates, at MyNation.