Maharashtra Political Crisis: The Supreme Court has declined to restore the status quo in Maharashtra, delivering a blow to former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. However, the court did mention that the actions of the Governor were not in accordance with the rule of law.
The Constitution Bench, headed by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud and comprising Justices Krishna Murari, MR Shah, Hima Kohli, and P S Narsimhan, pronounced the judgment on Thursday. Follow LIVE
While giving the verdict, the SC bench led by CJI DY Chandrachud said the Governor was not justified to call the MVA government for a floor test in the Assembly. “The Governor’s actions were not according to the rule of law,” the CJI said.
The Supreme Court further observed that Uddhav Thackeray’s resignation was a mistake. The bench led by CJI added that had Thackeray not resigned, the court would have restored the status quo. “Status quo cannot be restored since Thackeray resigned,” the bench added.
The Supreme Court stated that the Governor’s decision had lack of objective material to support the need for a floor test. Since Thackeray did not take the floor test, the court concluded that restoring the status quo was not possible.
Addressing the disqualification proceedings, the Supreme Court clarified that it does not find any extraordinary circumstances that warrant the court’s interference in deciding such matters. Instead, the court directed the Speaker to handle the disqualification petitions.
Last June, Eknath Shinde and 39 MLAs rebelled against the leadership of the undivided Shiv Sena, resulting in the party’s split and the collapse of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government led by Uddhav Thackeray, which also included the NCP and Congress. Shinde later formed an alliance with the BJP and returned as the Chief Minister.
In June 2022, a group of Shiv Sena MLAs, led by Eknath Shinde, rebelled against CM Uddhav Thackeray due to his decision to align with the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), which the rebel faction believed went against the party’s Hindutva ideology.
At the time when it seemed that the rebel MLAs would call for a trust vote with the support of the BJP-appointed governor, the rebel MLAs, led by Shinde, received disqualification notices from the deputy speaker.
Subsequently, the faction approached the Supreme Court to consider whether the rebels should be disqualified. On June 27, the apex court provided interim relief to Shinde by granting an extension of time to file responses to the disqualification notices.
On June 29, the Supreme Court gave the go-ahead for a floor test called by the governor.
An embattled Uddhav Thackeray announced his resignation on June 30 from the post of Chief Minister of Maharashtra after the Supreme Court refused to stay Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari’s direction to the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government to take a floor test in the Assembly.
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