Uddhav Thackeray on a court order: “Eknath Shinde Should Resign

The Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that the former governor of Maharashtra, Bhagat Singh Koshyari, was wrong to order a floor test at the request of 34 members of the Eknath Eknath Shiv Sena faction because he lacked sufficient evidence to conclude that the then-chief minister, Uddhav Thackeray, had lost the support of the house.

Following the Supreme Court’s ruling in the dispute, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde was ordered to resign because he had “murdered” democracy in order to gain power. This was said by Thackeray’s predecessor, Uddhav, on Thursday.

“Eknath Shinde prevailed after slaying democracy. Speaking at a press conference after the Supreme Court’s decision with Nitish Kumar, the Chief Minister of Bihar, by his side, Mr. Thackeray said, “He should resign as Chief Minister like I did.

In a defeat for Mr. Thackeray over the Shiv Sena uprising last year, the Supreme Court decided on Thursday that Mr. Shinde would be allowed to maintain his position despite benefiting from an unlawful decision made by the then-governor as a result of his uprising against his former employer.

The Supreme Court ruled that former Maharashtra governor BS Koshyari was wrong to ask then-Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to demonstrate majority in the legislature on June 30 of last year, but it also stated it could not reinstate his government because he withdrew after failing the strength test.

Giving Mr. Thackeray what his supporters have dubbed a “moral victory,” the court also ruled that the speaker’s choice to designate a member of Mr. Shinde’s group as the Shiv Sena’s whip, therefore undermining the leadership of the party’s then leader, was “illegal.”

A group of appeals pertaining to the political crisis that resulted in the fall of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) administration led by Mr. Thackeray after a mutiny by Mr. Shinde and others were decided unanimously by a five-judge constitution bench presided over by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud.

However, it stated that the governor was correct in calling Mr. Shinde to form a government at the request of the BJP, the largest political party in the legislature, given that Mr. Thackeray had resigned without taking the floor test.

The court ruled that the governor was not justified in asking Thackeray to demonstrate his majority on the House floor because he lacked evidence-based arguments to support his assertion that Thackeray had lost the House’s support.

“However, since Thackeray submitted his resignation rather than taking the floor test, the status quo ante cannot be reinstated. Since the BJP was the largest political party in the legislature, the governor was justified in requesting Shinde to form the government, the report noted.