The Supreme Court on Tuesday turned down the Centre’s request to dispose of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)’s petition demanding fresh polls, and asked it to take a decision by October 10 on government formation in Delhi “in the interest of everybody”.

A Constitution bench led by Justice H L Dattu sought a “positive” response from the government regarding the outcome of the political process initiated byLt-Governor Najeeb Jung, who wrote to President Pranab Mukherjee, seeking permission to invite the largest party, the BJP, to form the government in Delhi.

The court, however, rejected an argument by Additional Solicitor General P S Narasimha, who appeared for the Centre, noting that nothing remained to be decided in the AAP’s petition after the L-G had initiated the process on government formation in Delhi.

The ASG had produced the September 4 letter written by the L-G. In the letter, Jung had said it was not advisable to have fresh polls in Delhi in such a short time and had sought approval to invite the BJP to form the government.

The bench told the ASG, “No no… don’t tell us nothing has remained for this court to decide in this petition. We are still hearing the matter. The ball is presently in your court. You are right in saying that the dignitaries have taken into consideration the sentiments expressed by this court and we are happy about that. But you have to give us a time by which you will take a decision. And be fair to us.”

“Our thinking is that it is the interest of everybody that a government is formed and if it cannot be formed in the current situation, election should be held. That is the only interest of this court in this matter,” the court said.

When Narasimha said the political process was likely to take some time, the court said it should be done at the earliest since horse-trading, as alleged by AAP’s counsel Fali S Nariman, could continue in case of a delay.

It refused to grant Centre time till end of October, saying it was too long, and asked it to return to court by October 10.

The ASG also cautioned the bench against the possibility of being dragged into a political wrangle since the petition was moved by the AAP and various media reports were being published. The court assured the Centre that it was not going to be influenced by anything but the principles of law.

The bench also declined to take on record, for the time being, an additional affidavit and other materials, including the CD of the purported AAP sting.

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