NDLI: Shivraj Singh Chouhan & Ors. Vs. Speaker Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly & Ors.

Content Provider	Supreme Court of India
e-ISSN	30484839
Language	English
Access Restriction	NDLI
Subject Keyword	Constitution of India floor test
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Law Judgement
Jurisdiction	India
Act(s) Referred	Constitution of India
Case(s) Referred	Referred Case 0 Referred Case 1 Referred Case 2 Referred Case 3 Referred Case 4
Case Type	Writ Petition
Court	Supreme Court of India
Disposal Nature	Petition Disposed Off
Headnote	Constitution of India: Art.174 – Power of the Governor tocall floor test – Scope of – Held: Power under Art.174 of theConstitution to summon the House and to prorogue is exercised bythe Governor on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers –But in a situation where the Governor has reasons to believe thatthe Council of Ministers headed by the Chief Minister have lost theconfidence of the House, constitutional propriety requires that theissue be resolved by calling for a floor test – The Governor in callingfor a floor test cannot be construed to have acted beyond the boundsof constitutional authority.Administrative Law: Judicial review – Governor calling for afloor test – Scope of interference by Courts – Held: The powerswhich are entrusted to constitutional functionaries are not beyondthe pale of judicial review – Where the exercise of the discretion byGovernor to call a floor test is challenged before the court, it is notimmune from judicial review – The court is entitled to determinewhether in calling for the floor test, the Governor did so on thebasis of objective material and reasons which were relevant andgermane to the exercise of the power.Constitution of India: Art.174 – Duty of the Governor whilecalling floor test – Held: In exercising the constitutional authorityto demand a trust vote, the Governor must do so with circumspectionin a manner that ensures that the authority of the House to determinethe existence or loss of confidence in the government is notundermined – Absent exigent and compelling circumstances, thereis no reason for the Governor to prevent the ordinary legislativeprocess of a no confidence motion from running its due course –The Governor is an appointee of the President but does not representeither a political ideology or a political view – The reason underlyingthe entrustment of the authority to the Governor is the ability tostand above political conflicts and with the experience ofstatesmanship, to wheel the authority in a manner which subservesand does not detract from the strength and resilience ofdemocratically elected legislatures and the governments in the stateswho are accountable to them.Constitution of India: Art.174 – Exercise of power byGovernor to convene floor test – In this case, the Budget Session ofthe Legislative Assembly was convened on the aid and advice of theCouncil of Ministers to commence from 16 March 2020 – TheGovernor was intimated that 22 Members owing allegiance to theINC had tendered their resignations to the Speaker of the Assembly– Copies of the resignation letters were forwarded to the Governor– At this stage, the validity of these resignations was not discernedand no decision was made by the Speaker as to whether theresignations were voluntary or genuine – The Chief Ministersubsequently tendered advice to the Governor for the removal ofsix Members who were ministers in the State government – On 13March 2020, the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly issued noticesof disqualification – However, on 14 March 2020, the resignationsof six Members who were ministers of the incumbent governmentwere accepted by the Speaker acting in exercise of the constitutionalauthority under the proviso to Art.190(3)(b) – The Chief Ministeraddressed a communication to the Governor stating that theconvening of the floor test would be a sure basis for resolving theconundrum – However, upon the convening of the LegislativeAssembly, no floor test was conducted, and the House was adjournedtill 26 March 2020 – Governor advised to conduct a floor test –Propriety of, challenged – Held: Based on the resignation of sixministers of the incumbent government (accepted by the Speaker),the purported resignation of sixteen more Members belonging tothe INC, and the refusal of the Chief Minister to conduct a floortest despite the House having been convened on 16 March 2020,the exercise of power by the Governor to convene a floor test cannotbe regarded as constitutionally improper – In order to obviateillegitimate and unseemly political bargaining in the quest forpolitical power, the trust vote should be convened at the earliestdate – It is a matter which can brook no delay since the authority ofthe government presided over by the Chief Minister depends on theCouncil of Ministers continuing to have the faith of the legislativebody as a collective entity. AConstitution of India: Power of Governor to take decisionsas to whether the resignations tendered by Members were genuineor a Member of the House has incurred a disqualification – Held:The Governor does not decide whether the resignations that weresubmitted by the Members were genuine and voluntary – That issquarely a matter which lies within the domain of the Speaker –Similarly, whether a Member of the House has incurred adisqualification under the Tenth Schedule is a matter where theSpeaker is the designated authority – It is trite law that neither theGovernor, nor for that matter this court, has the power to impingeupon the authority of the Speaker to take a decision on these issues. BConstitution of India: Holding of a trust vote – The holdingof a trust vote operates in a distinct field from the issue as to whetherone or more individual members of the Legislative Assembly haveembarked upon a voluntary act of resignation or have incurred thewrath of the Tenth Schedule – Holding a trust vote is necessary toascertain whether the Council of Ministers headed by the ChiefMinister has the confidence of the House – The continuous existenceof that confidence is crucial to the legitimacy and hence survival ofthe government – Particularly where the Members resigned in anexpression of a lack of faith in the existing government, theconvening of a floor test is the surest method of assessing the impactof the resignations on the collective will of the House – Thus, theconvening of a trust vote is of crucial importance to affirm thefundamental values of the Constitution namely, abiding by the ruleswhich govern a parliamentary democracy – Holding of a trust votedoes not short-circuit the jurisdiction of the Speaker on a matter ofresignation and disqualification – The court cannot issue a directionmandating that a trust vote cannot be convened if any one or moreMembers do not remain present in the House – Whether or not toremain present is for the individual Members to decide and theywould, necessarily be accountable for the decisions which they take,both to their political party and to their constituents.
Judge	Hon'ble Dr. Justice D.Y. Chandrachud
Neutral Citation	2020 INSC 335
Petitioner	Shivraj Singh Chouhan & Ors.
Respondent	Speaker Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly & Ors.
SCR	[2020] 9 S.C.R. 787
Judgement Date	2020-04-13
Case Number	439

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