The Supreme Court on Thursday referred matters like membership of 16 Shiv Sena MLAs, role of governor and speaker, including Eknath Shinde, who rebelled against Uddhav Thackeray in Maharashtra politics, to a larger bench. However, the Supreme Court has questioned the role of the Governor and the Speaker while making strict comments.
The Supreme Court said that the matter would be referred to a larger bench. The CJI said, the question raised in Arunachal’s Nabam Rebia case should be referred to a larger bench, as it requires more clarity. At the same time, the Supreme Court said that Uddhav Thackeray was considered by the MLAs as their leader. In such a situation, the Speaker should have taken a decision after conducting an independent inquiry.
SC questions on the role of the Governor
The Supreme Court said that it is not the job of the governor to get into party discord. The responsibility of the governor is also to protect the constitution. The Supreme Court said that the Governor did not have any solid basis for calling a floor test in the Assembly. Floor test cannot be used to settle internal disputes of any party. The Supreme Court says that there was no such communication with the Governor, indicating that the dissident MLAs wanted to withdraw support from the government. Relying on the proposal of a group of Shiv Sena MLAs, the Governor concluded that Uddhav Thackeray has lost the support of the majority of MLAs.
Had Uddhav not resigned, the chair would have been restored
Had Uddhav Thackeray not resigned, there could have been an order to restore the government. The court said that it is not right to stop the deputy speaker from the decision. We do not agree with this. The Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court said that Uddhav Thackeray did not face the floor test. We cannot restore the old status quo in Maharashtra. We cannot take a decision on the disqualification of the MLAs. The Speaker of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly should take a decision on this.
Court’s comment on the role of the speaker
The Supreme Court, while hearing the Shinde-Udav case, remarked that the Speaker’s decision to appoint Gogawale (Shinde group) as Chief Whip of the Shiv Sena party was illegal. It is not right to separate the whip from the party. Only MLAs cannot decide who will be the chief whip of the party. There should not be a floor test on the basis of dissatisfaction in the party. Floor test cannot be held on the basis of insecurity of MLAs. The claim of the original party is not correct. Speaker cannot base the decision of the Election Commission. Such power should not be used which was not given by the constitution.
What is the whole matter
In the month of June last year, Eknath Shinde revolted against Uddhav Thackeray along with 15 Shiv Sena MLAs. 16 MLAs of Shiv Sena including Shinde first went to Surat and then stayed in Guwahati. At that time, Uddhav had proposed Shinde to come back and sit and talk, but Shinde did not accept it and formed the government with BJP. The governor administered the oath by recognizing the Shinde-BJP coalition government.
The Thackeray faction had filed a petition in the Supreme Court to disqualify Eknath Shinde and his 15 MLAs. When the matter reached the Supreme Court, it was transferred to the Constitution Bench. The bench comprises Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice MR Shah, Justice Krishna Murari, Justice Hima Kohli and Justice PS Narasimha.
The Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court heard the petitions of both the factions on 17 February. From February 21, the court had heard this case for 9 consecutive days. On March 16, after the arguments of all the parties were completed, the Supreme Court had reserved the decision and has now sent the matter to a larger bench.
Supreme Court referred the matter to a larger bench
A five-judge constitutional bench of the Supreme Court has referred the matter to a larger bench. Supreme Court says that it was said in the 2016 Nabam Rebia case that proceedings to disqualify a Speaker cannot be initiated, Supreme Court said that when the proposal for his removal is pending, then a reference to a larger bench is needed in the matter.
After this decision of the court, the decision on the future of 16 MLAs including Eknath Shinde has been postponed. Now a larger bench of the Supreme Court will give its verdict on the disqualification of Shiv Sena MLAs. A bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud has referred the matter to a larger bench of seven judges.
