SC gives two weeks to BJP, Cong to respond to AAP's plea

Senior advocates P S Patwalia and Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the BJP, submitted that the court should wait till the conclusion of the general elections when the Lt Governor would be in a better position to judge whether any party could form the government.

The BJP, which was the single largest party and sat in opposition during Arvind Kejriwal's 49-day regime, also said government formation by any party is a political decision and for which it will require to call a meeting of its parliamentary board.

In the 70-member Delhi Assembly, AAP with 28 seats and the support of eight-member Congress had formed the government. BJP has 31 seats and the support of one Akali member.

Congress, which was represented by senior advocate K Parasaran, said LG was not made a party in the matter.

The apex court, which earlier had kept the two parties away from the hearing, decided to know their stand, after noting that neither the BJP nor the Congress had made their position clear on government formation following the resignation of chief minister Arvind Kejriwal.

During the last hearing on March 7, it took into account the submissions of AAP and the Centre and wanted to know that "after enactment of 10th Schedule of the Constitution whether defection to happen can be a relevant consideration as a ground to keep the Assembly under suspended animation".