Shinde Govt Legal, Uddhav Quit Over Lack Of Numbers Not Morality: Fadnavis After Big SC Order

Eknath Shinde, Devendra Fadnavis addressed the media after the big relief from the Supreme Court.

Eknath Shinde, Devendra Fadnavis Address Media After Big SC Relief, Welcome Verdict ( Image Source :Getty )

Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis addressed the media after the big Supreme Court relief and welcomed the verdict which refused to give relief to former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray as it observed that he did not face a Floor test in the Maharashtra assembly. "This is a victory for democracy and the democratic process. We are satisfied with the verdict given by the Supreme Court," Fadnavis said.

"Maha Vikas Aghadi's (MVA) conspiracy has been defeated. Now, no one should doubt that the Maharashtra government is completely legal," he added.

Lashing out at Uddhav Thackeray, Fadnavis said, "It doesn't suit Uddhav Thackeray to talk about morality. I want to ask him if had he forgotten his morals when he went with NCP and Congress for the Chief Minister's post. He had not resigned on moral grounds but due to fear after people who were with him left him."

Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde said, "I won't talk about what Supreme Court said about the then Maharashtra Governor, but I would say that he acted as per the situation at the time. What if the Floor test had happened and their (MVA) govt had failed it?"

He asked, "Is he (Uddhav Thackeray) above SC or ECI that he will not let us appoint our Whip or any other office bearer and not let us use the name Shiv Sena."

The apex court pronounced a verdict on a batch of petitions related to the 2022 Maharashtra political crisis that saw Eknath Shinde taking over as Chief Minister from Uddhav Thackeray following a split in the Shiv Sena. It criticised the Maharashtra Speaker's decision to appoint Gogawale (Shinde group) as chief Whip of the Shiv Sena party as illegal.

It referred the 2016 Nabam Rebia five-judge verdict related to the power of speaker on disqualification of MLAs to a larger bench The top court, news agency PTI reported.

Supreme Court said that the 2016 Nabam Rebia case which held that Speaker cannot initiate disqualification proceedings when a resolution seeking his removal is pending, requires reference to a larger bench. The top court said that issues such as whether a notice to the removal of the Speaker will restrict the powers of the Speaker to issue disqualification notices need examination by a larger bench.

CJI DY Chandrachud said that it will not be right for democracy to separate the whip from the party as it is the party that seeks votes from the public and MLA alone cannot decide who will be the whip. Uddhav Thackeray was chosen as the leader in the meeting of party legislators. On July 3, the Speaker approved the new whip of the Shiv Sena. Thus, there are two leaders and two whips, he mentioned.

Supreme Court said that the state assembly Speaker should recognise only the whip appointed by the political party. It further stated that the Governor had no objective material to call for a Floor test in the Assembly, it cannot be used as a medium to resolve inter or intra-party disputes.

According to the SC bench, the Governor erred in relying on the resolution of a faction of MLAs of Shiv Sena to conclude that Uddhav Thackeray had lost the support of the majority of MLAs. "Governor had no objective material to doubt the confidence of the Uddhav Thackeray-led government and call for a Floor test. The resolution relied on by the government did not indicate that MLAs wanted to withdraw support. Even if it is assumed that the MLAs wanted to exit the government, they constituted only a faction," the Supreme Court stated.

However, the top court said that status quo ante cannot be ordered by restoring MVA government as then CM Uddhav Thackeray did not face the floor test and tendered resignation. Hence, the Governor was justified in administering the oath to Eknath Shinde with the support of the largest party BJP.

Supreme Court asked the Speaker to decide on disqualification petitions within a reasonable time. 
A five-judge bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud and Justices MR Shah, Krishna Murari, Hima Kohli, and P S Narasimha had reserved its verdict in the matter on March 16 after hearing the matter for eight days. 

Last year, Shinde and 39 MLAs rebelled against the undivided Sena party leadership, which eventually resulted in the collapse of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government and the party's split. Shinde was sworn in as CM on June 30, a day after Uddhav Thackeray quit the post. BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis was sworn in as the deputy CM. 

On February 17 this year, the Election Commission (EC) recognised the Shinde faction as the real Shiv Sena based on the majority in the Maharashtra Assembly. The Shinde faction has 40 MLAs in the Assembly as against the Thackeray faction's 15.