Govt says hurry; SC: don’t worry

In the landmark Manohar Singh Gill vs Chief Election Commissioner case, Justice Kirpal was a counsel for the EC in which the Supreme Court ruled that Article 324 is ‘‘a reservoir of power to act for the avowed purpose of pushing forward a free and fair election with expedition.’’

Today, it is the primacy of Article 324 that’s being challenged by the Government in the reference.

The five-judge bench began proceedings today with the routine issuance of notices to the Election Commission, all state governments and national parties asking them first to appear on September 3. He then advanced it to Thursday on Government counsel Solicitor General Harish Salve’s insistence that there wasn’t much time.

Salve’s contention was that October 2 was ‘‘a crucial date.’’ This cut-off is at the root of the controversy that led to the reference. For, as per Article 174, the next Assembly of Gujarat has to meet before that date or otherwise, as the EC suggested, there has to be President’s Rule in the state. Kirpal brushed aside Salve’s concern for the October 2 deadline saying, ‘‘You don’t worry about that for the time being.’’

Given the time constraints, all parties involved are aware of the fact that there is no realistic chance of the court disposing of the reference early enough to let elections take place in Gujarat by the end of September.

The most the Centre can hope for from the reference is guidance on whether it can avoid imposition of President’s Rule in October.

That the proceedings are going to take a while is also evident from the notices the court gave today. Five of the six national parties were in fact present in the court and accepted the notice there. Arun Jaitley was there on behalf of the BJP while Abhishek Singhvi was for the Congress. Anybody who is given a notice is generally allowed four weeks to file a counter-affidavit. The urgency being displayed by the court on the reference suggests that the noticees are likely to be given less than the usual time for filing their counter affidavits.

The Centre will after that have to be given time to file its rejoinder. In the normal course, it is only then that the arguments take place in the court. Another factor that may prolong the prolong the proceedings to the Centre’s discomfiture is the clamour from regional parties and NGOs to be allowed to intervene in the matter.

When a counsel requested the court that regional parties should also be allowed to address the court as they were the ones which participate in the coalition government, the bench said: ‘‘You come through the coalition government. If we allow the regional parties, it will be difficult to control the proceedings.’’

There are at present 48 regional parties, the EC informed the court. Besides Justice Kirpal, the bench hearing the reference includes Justice V N Khare, Justice K G Balakrishnan, Justice Ashok Bhan and Justice Arijit Pasayat.