High Court stays Uttarakhand floor test

The hearing in the case will next be held on Apr 6.

The central government has argued in court that "there is no government" and the assembly building is empty as the state is under President's Rule, reports said.

"If you allow a trust vote, there will be two governments," Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi told the Nainital High Court where a petition against floor test is being heard.

The Centre on Wednesday challenged the high court's order asking Harish Rawat to face a trust vote in the assembly on Thursday on grounds that Uttarakhand is under central rule.

The  High Court on Tuesday ordered a floor test in the Assembly to determine which party enjoys a majority and stayed President's Rule, which was imposed on Sunday. The court, in its order, also allowed the nine suspended rebel MLAs to take part in the floor test.

Till last week, Harish Rawat of the Congress was the Chief Minister of the state.

The crisis befell the hill state on Mar 18 when nine Congress MLAs rebelled against Rawat's government. 

The BJP met the Governor the same day and staked claim to form the government.

The Centre said this proved that his government had been reduced to a minority.  Rawat and his party refuted that allegation, and were told by Governor KK Paul to take a trust vote on Monday, March 28.

However,  President Pranab Mukherjee sanctioned the Cabinet's recommendation for Uttarakhand to be governed by the Centre.