CHANDIGARH: Haryana Governor Dhanik Lal Mandal has dissolved the state legislature and recommended imposition of President’s rule in the state after dismissal of the 12-day-old Chautala government.

The Governor, in his report sent to the center Tuesday, said he acted as the government headed by OM Prakash Chautala had been reduced to a minority and in the face of the virtual refusal by the chief minister to abide by his directive to seek a vote of confidence on the floor of the house by Wednesday, sources here said.

The Governor finalized his report after consulting various serving and retired judges of the high court and constitutional experts ending the nearly five-day political and constitutional stalemate,

Sources told PTI here that one copy of the governor’s report was sent to the President and another to the home ministry to be forwarded to the Prime Minister. The federal council of ministers will discuss the report and make its recommendation to the president.

Chandra Shekhar, during his visit to Chandigarh on Sunday, had said that the governor’s report would be given “respect”. He is also reported to have told the governor to act on his own.

The governor is scheduled to leave for New Delhi on Wednesday morning.

The governor had asked Chautala to prove his majority on the floor of the house by April 3 following the unanimous recommendation of the cabinet to him to dissolve the assembly.

The governor, in his communication to chief minister OM Parkash Chautala, had said doubts had arisen about his majority following the disqualification of three ruling Janata Dal (S) legislators from the membership of the house by speaker H S Chatha under the anti-defection law. He was, therefore, asking him to prove his strength in the house pending his recommendation for the dissolution.

Chautala in his reply had questioned the constitutional propriety and legal authority of the governor in directing him to prove his majority while asserting that the governor was bound to accept the cabinet’s recommendation to dissolve the house. He had also argued that it would be unconstitutional and illegal for him to summon the assembly after his council of ministers had unanimously recommended its dissolution.

Article extracted from this publication >> April 5, 1991