The Supreme Court is set to deliver its verdict on Thursday in a batch of petitions related to the Maharashtra political crisis of 2022. Last year, the Shiv Sena split, and Eknath Shinde replaced Uddhav Thackeray as Chief Minister. A Constitution bench comprising of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justices MR Shah, Krishna Murari, Hima Kohli, and PS Narasimha heard the matter for eight days before reserving its verdict on March 16.
During the hearing, the Constitution bench expressed concern over the Governor of Maharashtra commenting on the government's formation in the State during the case's arguments. The Court also reserved its verdict on whether to refer the matter to a larger bench to reconsider the Court's 2016 judgment in Nabam Rebia v. Deputy Speaker.
The Supreme Court acknowledged that it might not be possible to restore the previous speaker to decide on the disqualification petitions of MLAs from the Eknath Shinde camp or invalidate the trust vote, which never took place since Uddhav Thackeray resigned before the vote.
Furthermore, the Court expressed reservations about the extent to which it can turn back the clock, stating that the ex-Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari's actions in calling for a floor test that led to the fall of the Uddhav Thackeray government raise serious concerns regarding the exercise of powers by the Governor.
On the final day of the hearing, the top court raised a crucial question, "What happens if we come to the conclusion that the exercise of power by the Governor was not correct? Does Uddhav Thackeray become CM? But he resigned, right? It is like the Court being told to reinstate a government that has already resigned." The Supreme Court also questioned the correctness of the Governor inviting Eknath Shinde to form the government instead of the leader of the single largest party in the Maharashtra assembly, BJP.
TAGS: Constitution bench Supreme Court verdict Maharashtra political crisis Eknath Shinde Uddhav Thackeray split Shiv Sena Chief Minister Nabam Rebia v. Deputy Speaker Governor floor test exercise of powers disqualification petitions MLAs BJP.
