NEW DELHI, 25 January 2006 — In a severe indictment of Bihar Gov. Buta Singh, the Supreme Court yesterday held that he misled the federal government in recommending the dissolution of the state assembly in May 2005.

The Supreme Court, which in its Oct. 7 interim order had ruled the dissolution unconstitutional, yesterday said the state governor acted in “undue haste” in sending his report and his motive was to prevent National Democratic Alliance leader Nitish Kumar from staking claim to form a government after a fractured assembly election verdict.

The court ruled: “We are of the view that the action of the governor was a mala fide exercise of power. “Hence, the proclamation issued under Article 356, dissolving the Bihar Assembly was illegal, unconstitutional and arbitrary.”

The judgment was passed by Chief Justice Y.K. Sabharwal, Justice B.N. Agarwal and Justice Ashok Bhan.

The majority of the blame has been laid on the governor with the bench saying his report misled the Council of Ministers. The judgment also goes on to severely criticize Buta, saying: “The whims and fancies of governors will open the floodgates of dissolution of assemblies.

“This will entail dangerous consequences, forcing the country to have another election whenever there was a fractured verdict.”

However, the bench added, “Though the governor is the main player, the Council of Ministers should have verified the facts in the two reports sent by him on April 27 and May 21 2005.”

A judgment terming Buta’s act as unconstitutional had come out earlier and the important details were made public yesterday.

In addition, the court called for a national policy with common norms for appointment of governors, which would be acceptable to all political parties.

The court said this in reference to the Sarkaria Commission report regarding the appointment of governors. According to the panel, only an eminent person free from political affiliation should be appointed to the constitutional post.

The Supreme Court also pointed out that the action of the governor in this case was drastic and extreme and the court cannot be a silent spectator to such subversion.

Reacting to the court verdict, several political parties, including allies of the United Progressive Alliance government have demanded Buta’s resignation.

The Communist Party of India (Marxist), which provides crucial outside support to the government, said: “In the light of Supreme Court judgment, it will be appropriate for Singh to step down from the post of governor.”

Party General Secretary Prakash Karat separately said: “I don’t see any way other than Gov. Buta Singh to step down.”

On the question of democratic norms regarding the role of the governor during government formation after an election and precautions to check arbitrariness, the Politburo said this needed to be discussed and decided.

“The problem is not solely of governors having a political background as the judgment points out, but about the latitude and scope of the powers of the governor,” it said.

CPI National Secretary D. Raja also called for a debate on the appointment and role of governors in view of “politicization” of the post as various governments, irrespective of party positions, have appointed politicians to the post.

“This is the larger issue which should be debated in a broader perspective. Lately, in many cases political appointment is taking place for the post of governors,” he said.

But the man in the eye of the storm has refused to resign and said that he will study the judgment. He added that he would take the salute as governor at the Republic Day parade in Patna tomorrow.

Opposition leader Lal Krishna Advani accused Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of misleading the president on the Bihar assembly dissolution and demanded his resignation. “The Supreme Court observations may seem harsher against Gov. Buta Singh, but the culpability of the prime minister is evidently greater because it was he who convened the meeting of the Council of Ministers at the dead of the night and it is he who was instrumental in misleading the president in this regard,” Advani told a news conference here.

Janata Dal (United) also demanded the immediate resignation of Buta. “If any morality is left in Buta Singh he should quit the post of governor immediately after severe indictment by the highest court,” state JD (U) Secretary General and former leader of the opposition Upendra Kushwaha told reporters.

Kushwaha, a close aide to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, said the judgment had “exposed the fact that Buta Singh was serving the interest of his masters in the UPA, particularly Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad.”

Welcoming the judgment, Kushawaha said our stand stood vindicated that the UPA worked overtime for dissolution of the Bihar assembly only to prevent the NDA from forming government.

The federal government is reportedly studying the implications of the judgment amid speculation Buta’s days as governor of Bihar are numbered. Home Minister Shivraj Patil has been asked to cut short his stay in Bombay and return to the capital ahead of the meeting of the Cabinet at which the ramifications of the Supreme Court verdict are expected to be discussed.

Informed sources described Buta’s defiant stand as untenable and his departure inevitable.