Will abide by Supreme Court's orders, says Harish Rawat

Former Chief Minister Harish Rawat on Friday said he will abide by the orders of the Supreme Court after it stayed the Uttarakhand High Court's verdict of quashing President's rule in the state till April 27.

Rawat told media here that the apex court order is interim and that the only thing that concerns him is the political crisis in Uttarakhand and the impact that it will have on the people and the development of the state.

"We will follow Supreme Court's judgement with due respect. This order is interim, till 27th, because the Supreme Court didn't have the copy of the high court's judgment. As a former chief minister, I would like to request the Supreme Court to give a verdict as soon as possible so that the state does not have to suffer because of the political crisis which has already stalled development in many ways," said Rawat.

Rawat further said that one good aspect of the Supreme Court's judgment is that president's rule cannot be revoked till the final verdict and this will prevent the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from falsely forming a government.

"Until the Supreme Court makes a final judgment, President's rule can't be revoked, and now, the BJP cannot form a government the way it was trying to do in the past by using unfair means," said Rawat.

The Supreme Court on Friday stayed the Uttarakhand High Court's order of quashing the President's rule in the state.

An apex court bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra reviewed the order of the high court and stayed its verdict till April 27.

The high court yesterday set aside the Centre's rule imposed last month, saying Article 356 was imposed in the state contrary to the law laid down by Supreme Court.

It accused the Centre of acting in blatant falsehood and behaving like a private party.

It asked Rawat to prove his government's majority on the floor of the assembly on April 29.