Floor test in Maharashtra Assembly on Nov 27 before 5 pm, orders Supreme Court

A floor test will be held in the Maharashtra Assembly before 5 pm on November 27, the Supreme Court ordered on Tuesday, days after BJP's Devendra Fadnavis took oath as the state's chief minister nixing Shiv Sena-Congress-NCP's bid to form the government.

"A Floor test should be held on November 27 before five pm," Justice N V Ramana said while pronouncing the order on the Sena-Congress-NCP plea against BJP-led government formation in the state.

The top court also ordered for the floor test to be telecast live.

A three-judge bench headed by Justice Ramana passed the order on a joint petition filed by the three parties challenging Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari's decision to swear in Fadnavis as Chief Minister and NCP's Ajit Pawar as his deputy during early hours of Saturday.

The oaths were administered at a time when deliberations among the three parties on government formation had reached the final stage. The urgent plea filed by the trio sought a direction to conduct an immediate floor test.

Floor test is a constitutional mechsm under which a chief minister can be asked to prove majority in the state Assembly.

During the course of proceedings yesterday, even though the Governor's office and all the parties agreed to a floor test, they had a scattered view on when it should be held.

( With inputs from ANI )