NEW DELHI, JAN 18: The Supreme Court today refused to entertain a petition by the Arunachal Pradesh Finance Minister seeking a stay on the convening of the State Assembly by the Governor for the test of majority of the government headed by Chief Minister Gegong Apang.A three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice A S Anand, Justice M Srinivasan and Justice N Santosh Hegde, however, allowed the petitioner Tahung Tatak to withdraw the petition as his counsel, senior advocate Rajiv Dhawan, said he would like to address the Guwahati High Court on the issue.The High Court on January 12 while fixing hearing on the petition by Tatak on January 21 had refused to stay the convening of the Assembly by the Governor for January 18.Earlier, Dhawan said the Governor had convened the Assembly without consulting the Chief Minister, who had recommended its dissolution, amounting to gross constitutional impropriety.The bench said, "The matter is pending before the Guwahati high court and it will not be appropriatefor this court to intervene at this stage."Assuming everything in favour of the petitioner, even if something goes wrong, it can be redressed at a later stage (through an appropriate forum)," the bench added.Dhawan then sought the court's permission to withdraw the petition, and the bench dismissed the petition as withdrawn.Dhawan said convening of the State Assembly by the Governor without consulting the Chief Minister was against the constitutional provisions as interpreted by the Supreme Court in the Bommai case.The petitioner said the Chief Minister convened a meeting of the Cabinet on January 9 to consider the deteriorating law and order situation in the State with particular reference to the situation prevailing in Tirup and Changlang districts.The Cabinet considered notices issued to MLAs, ministers and public leaders by National Socialist Council of Nagaland and Greater People's Republic of Nagaland and a decision was taken to recommend dissolution of the Assembly, the tenure of whichends towards the end of this year.It was mentioned that several ministers resigned from the Cabinet following threats from the insurgent outfits.However, the Governor wrote back to Apang that 22 MLAs of the ruling Arunachal Congress, four from the Congress and five Independent MLAs had rejected the recommendation and said the Government should first prove its majority on the floor of the House.
