Congress leader Harish Rawat has returned as Uttarakhand Chief Minister after President's Rule was lifted in the state on Wednesday.
The Union Cabinet earlier recommended revoking President’s Rule in the state after the Supreme Court declared the result of Tuesday’s floor test in the Assembly declaring him winner with the support of 33 MLAs.
Even before a bench of Justices Dipak Misra and Shiva Kirti Singh could open the sealed envelope containing the results of the confidence vote, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi expressed readiness of the Centre to lift President’s Rule. He conceded that Rawat has won the confidence vote.
Senior advocates Kapil Sibal, A M Singhvi and Rajeev Dhawan, appearing for Rawat, described the stand taken by the Union government as “very fair”.
This prompted the court to declare, “After the Presidential Rule is revoked, Rawat can assume the office of the chief minister of Uttarakhand.”
Appointed as independent observer, Jaidev Singh, Principal Secretary, Legislative and Parliamentary Affairs, Uttarakhand produced the confidence vote result stating Rawat has obtained 33 votes out of 61 votes.
Nine rebel Congress MLAs, led by former chief minister Vijay Bahuguna, could not participate in the proceedings as they remained disqualified.
The bench recorded the Union government’s undertaking and modified its previous order of April 22 whereby the Centre was restrained from revoking President's rule. Minutes after the court's proceedings, the Union Cabinet met briefly at Parliament House at around 12.45 pm and recommended revocation of President's rule in Uttarakhand. The order of revocation has to be placed before the apex court on Friday.
In a subsequent development, Rohatgi met President Pranab Mukherjee, leading to issuance of notification for revocation of emergency provision under Article 356 under the Constitution. Rawat will be chairing a Cabinet meet on Thursday morning.
“There is no need for swearing in as Rawat has been reinstated by the Supreme Court as chief minister,” a senior Congress leader said.Reacting to the development, 68-year-old Rawat hailed the Union government for showing “magnanimity” in revoking President's rule in the state. He said the judiciary has restored the faith of the people in democracy.
In a move to end the political impasse in Uttarakhand, the court had on May 6 ordered a floor test in the special session of the Assembly under its own supervision on Tuesday. The court, however, refused to allow the 9 rebel Congress MLAs to cast their votes, stating that the appeal against their disqualification was pending before the Uttarakhand High Court.