Onus on petitioners to prove govt is in minority: State to HC

Strongly opposing a bunch of petitions challenging the formation of the BJP government by a 'voice vote' in Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, the State today argued before the Bombay High Court that it had proved its majority on the floor of the House.
"The onus was on petitioners to show that the government was in minority," the State said while replying to the petition filed by former Congress Minister and sitting MLA Naseem Khan and two other Public Interest Litigations on the issue.
While the State defended the Speaker's decision to call for a 'voice vote' on November 12 to determine whether it had the majority support, the petitioners argued the government thus formed was "unconstitutional and illegal" as there was no 'head count' voting.

As the same points were being argued time and again, the bench of Justice V M Kanade and Anuja Prabhudessai quipped "don't try the patience of the court."
The court's remarks came when it was hearing the arguments presented by various lawyers challenging the constitutionality of the trust vote sought by the current BJP government.
The bench was hearing arguments advanced by advocate Shrihari Aney, who defended the Assembly Speaker, and Advocate Anil Anturkar who represented petitioner Rajkumar Awasti.

The court has asked the senior counsel to give written submissions of their arguments tomorrow when the court will hear the public interest litigations (PILs) again.

Earlier, Khan's lawyer T R Andhyarujina, senior counsel and former solicitor general, cited the Supreme Court's judgements to show that a high court has the jurisdiction to hear petitions challenging the Speaker's decisions on trust motions.
"The Speaker Haribhau Bagde did not act fairly by opting for a voice vote as the government did not have the numbers to prove its majority. Bagde's action subverted the law laid down by the Supreme Court that a floor test is mandatory in such situations," said Andhyarujina.
According to Advocate General Sunil Manohar, the first option for the Speaker is 'voice vote', followed by 'division of votes' (head count).