The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued notice to Madhya Pradesh Assembly Speaker on a writ petition filed by former Chief Minister and BJP leader Shivraj Singh Chouhan seeking an immediate floor test.
Notices have been issued to Chief Minister Kamal Nath and Principal Secretary to the Government of Madhya Pradesh as well.
A bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and Hemant Gupta observed that since the respondents are not there today to submit their arguments, hence the best thing to do is to issue notice and list the matter for tomorrow.
Senior Advocate Mukul Rohtagi, appearing for the petitioners argued that it was a travesty of justice that no one from the respondent side turned up today in a matter seeking an urgent direction.
The petition filed by Chouhan and 10 other BJP leaders claimed that the Congress government had lost the majority after the resignation of 22 of its MLAs and did not have any moral or constitutional right to remain in power even for a single day.
Last week, 22 Congress MLAs resigned from the assembly in the wake of former Union minister and Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia joining the BJP. The speaker later accepted the resignation of six members, bringing the strength of the House to 222, with the majority mark at 112.
Before the crisis, the Congress had 114 MLAs and enjoyed the support of four independent legislators, two MLAs of the Bahujan Samaj Party and one legislator of the Samajwadi Party. The BJP has 107 MLAs.