Centre Wants to Abrogate Fulcrum of Constitution: K'taka, WB & HP to SC

ON 7th day of hearing in the Presidential reference case on Wednesday, governments of several states, including Karnataka, West Bengal and Himachal Pradesh, claimed before the Supreme Court that the Union government sought to "abrogate the fulcrum of the Constitution" by questioning the Court's April 8 ruling that prescribed timelines for the President and the Governor to decide on Bills passed by the state legislatures.

- Suchitra Kalyan Mohanty @ New Delhi

Senior Advocate Gopal Subramanium, appearing for Karnataka, argued that the Union government tried to indirectly abrogate the fulcrum of the Constitution, which is the cabinet form of government and the responsibility of the legislature.

He clarified that the democratic form of government through the Cabinet has been held to be part of the basic structure of the Constitution.

Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, representing West Bengal, contended that the Court should not fall into a trap where the governor becomes an impediment to the functioning of the Constitution.