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HC defers Kalyan's hearing till Monday

A division bench of the Allahabad high court deferred till Monday, hearing of the arguments against the dismissal of the Kalyan Singh government and administering of oath to Jagdambika Pal as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh.

The court, comprising Justices B N Dixit and D K Seth, passed the order on a writ petition filed by Narendra Kumar Singh Gaur, the higher education minister, UP, seeking a writ of mandamus commanding the state government and the Union of India to act in accordance with law, and that the government of Kalyan Singh should not be dismissed until he loses the confidence of a majority on the floor of the House.

The petitioner also prayed that the governor be restrained from administering the oath to Jagdambika Pal as chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. He also prayed that the governor should be restrained from interfering in the working of the Kalyan Singh government.

S P Gupta, counsel for Jagdambika Pal, opposed the writ petition saying it was not maintainable as all the three reliefs sought from the court were no longer in existence.

He also contended that the governor's order of dismissal was passed after looking into all aspects of the matter, and considering the ample evidence, his order, passed under Article 163 (2) of the Constitution, was right.

Yatindra Singh, the petitioner's counsel, in his arguments said the governor's order was passed in violation of the Constitution as also against the law laid down in S R Bommai case.

However, at present, there is only an interim stay order in the petitioner's favour. The court will hear the case on the point of interim stay order tomorrow.

EARLIER REPORT:
Constitutional lawyers aghast at Bhandari decision

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