Uttarakhand Crisis: Centre's Next Stop Is Supreme Court Today

New Delhi: Despite being told that its decision to impose President's Rule in Uttarakhand was illegal, the Centre is not winding up its effort to have the Congress government removed in the hill state. Today morning, it will take its case to the Supreme Court, said Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi.  

The Uttarakhand High Court on Thursday found an assortment of faults in the Centre's justification for declaring in March that Harish Rawat had no right to continue as Chief Minister; but union government sources say they are confident of proving substantial legal ground in the top court.

Mr Rawat has been reinstated for now as Chief Minister. He has to take a trust vote on April 29.

The strategy for the Supreme Court appeal was finalized at a meeting of the BJP's top leaders at the home of party president Amit Shah. Attending were Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who returned this afternoon from New York, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and top lawyer Harish Salve. BJP leader Subramanian Swamy has said that the government's lawyers were not well-prepared in court.

In the top court, the Centre is likely to press the argument that Mr Rawat's own party men voted against him when he presented the budget, and that it was eventually passed in violation of legislature rules. This contention was rejected by the High Court, but the Centre hopes to establish it as grounds for the constitutional crisis it declared when it established President's Rule.