President’s Rule revoked in Maharashtra at 5.47 a.m. without Cabinet meet

President Ram Nath Kovind has revoked the proclamation imposing President’s Rule in Maharashtra. In a notification issued early on Saturday signed by Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla, the Central rule was revoked. “In exercise of the powers conferred by clause (2) of Article 356 of the Constitution, I, Ram Nath Kovind, President of India, hereby revoke the Proclamation issued by me under the said article on the 12th day of November, 2019, in relation to the State of Maharashtra with effect from the 23rd day of November, 2019,” the notification said. The notification was digitally signed by the official at 5.47 a.m. on Saturday before being uploaded on the official gazette portal egazette.nic.in. An official said that a notification can only be digitally signed once the physical copy has been signed by the President. The timeline suggests that the Union Home Ministry worked overnight to prepare the notification and the President signed it before 5.47 a.m. on Saturday. Last time, when the proclamation imposing Central rule was issued, Home Ministry officials waited for Mr. Kovind to return from Punjab. After he signed the proclamation, Central rule was formally imposed around 5.30 p.m. on November 12 even though the Governor sent a report around 12 noon the same day recommending Central rule.

Centre invokes Rule 12

On November 12, when President's Rule was imposed in Maharashtra, the Union Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi had met on an urgent basis, minutes before he was to leave for Brazil to attend the BRICS summit. However, on Saturday the Cabinet did not meet.  Instead, the Central Government used its power under Rule 12 of Transaction of Business Rules, 1961 to revoke the proclamation of President's rule in Maharashtra without the prior approval of the Union Cabinet. Rule 12 pertaining to "Departure from Rules" says that "Prime Minister may, in any case or classes of cases permit or condone a departure from these rules, to the extent he deems necessary." Source: The Hindu