Meghalaya brought under Central rule

New Delhi, Mar 19 (PTI) The north eastern state of
Meghalaya, which witnessed a controversial confidence vote in
the Assembly, was Thursday brought under the Central rule and
the state assembly put under suspended animation.

A Rashtrapati Bhavan spokesperson said President Pratibha
Patil gave her nod to the decision taken by the Union Cabinet
Wednesday.

"The President has signed the proclamation for imposing
Central rule in Meghalaya," the spokesperson said.

The Cabinet decision to bring the state under Central
rule and to keep the Assembly under suspended animation came
following a report given by Governor R S Moosahary about the
breakdown of Constitutional machinery in the state.

Aided by Speaker B M Lanong who invalidated the votes of
four rebel members ignoring the Governor's directive and
exercised his casting vote to break a tie, the NCP(Nationalist
Congress Party )-led Meghalaya Progressive Alliance government
had on Tuesday survived a confidence vote in the assembly.

The Speaker had suspended five Member of Legislative
Assembly (MLA)s, who withdrew support to the government, under
the Anti-Defection Law ignoring the Governor's directive that
he maintain status quo on the voting rights of members and
cast his vote when there was a 27:27 tie in the 60-member
House during division.

Immedialty after the Union Cabinet decided to impose
President's rule in Meghalaya, Senior NCP leader and main
architect of the MPA government P A Sangma said he would move
the Supreme Court against the move.

He termed the Cabinet's decision as "unwarranted" and
"unprecedented" and said "the decision is not as per the
Constitution and the MPA government had won the confidence
vote on the floor of the Assembly. There was no manipulation
and everything was according to law."

The MLAs, who had been suspended by the Speaker, had
moved the Gauhati High Court, which issued notices to Lanong
asking him to explain why the suspension of five MLAs ahead of
the trust vote won by the NCP-led government should not be
quashed.

A Shillong bench of the court headed by Justice T
Vaiphei had asked the Speaker and the other respondents why it
should not quash Lanong's order for interim suspension of the
MLAs.

The Court is expected to pass an interim verdict on
the petition filed by independent MLAs Paul Lyngdoh and
Limison Sangma and that on three other legislators Ismail R
Marak, Advisor Pariong and Sabor Shullai next week.