On floor tests, Supreme Court has always preferred quick action

New Delhi, Nov 24: The Supreme Court would hear a petition seeking a direction to conduct a floor test in Maharashtra within the next 24 hours.

The Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress combine on Saturday night filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking quashing of the Maharashtra governor's decision to swear-in BJP's Devendra Fadnavis as chief minister and demanded an immediate floor test to avoid "further horse trading".

The Supreme Court has heard similar matters in the past and has always favoured that floor tests be held immediately. The most recent case was in 2018, when the court ordered B S Yeddyurappa to take the floor test within 24 hours of his swearing in.

In 2005, the court ordered the Jharkhand assembly to conduct a floor test. The test was held to find out which of the parties had a majority on the floor of the House.

In 1998, the court ordered that a composite floor test be held in Uttar Pradesh to determine whether Kalyan Singh or Jagadambika Pal had the majority.

The Supreme Court has made it clear that the Governor invites a party or alliance to form the government on the basis of the letters of support. Since the Governor cannot undertake a head count, it is a floor test which should determine whether the party has a majority or not.

In the S R Bommai case, the SC had said that the floor test is conclusive proof of numbers on the floor of the House.

While hearing such petitions, the court can fix the time for the floor test. The procedure can also be determined by the Bench, which could include the presence of observers and CCTV cameras. The court can also order the appointment of the senior most member of the House as pro-tem Speaker to conduct the proceedings.