The Supreme Court on Thursday reserved its verdict on a batch of cross-petitions of Uddhav Thackeray and CM Eknath Shinde factions pertaining to the Maharashtra political crisis.
A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud reserved its verdict after hearing arguments advanced on behalf of both Uddhav and Eknath factions and the office of the governor.
The bench, comprising Justices MR Shah, Krishna Murari, Hima Kohli and PS Narasimha concluded the hearing after senior advocates Kapil Sibal, AM Singhvi, Devadatt Kamat and advocate Amit Anand Tiwari made their submissions.
The top court also heard arguments of senior advocates Neeraj Kishan Kaul, Harish Salve, Mahesh Jethmalani and advocate Abhikalp Pratap Singh for Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde-led faction.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta represented the office of the governor in the matter.
The five-judge constitution bench reserved its verdict after nine days of hearing which had commenced on February 21.
How can Uddhav Thackeray be reinstated as cm when he resigned before floor test: sc
The Supreme Court wondered on Thursday as to how it can reinstate the Uddhav Thackeray government in Maharashtra when the chief minister had put in his papers even before facing the floor test, after the faction led by him pitched for setting aside the governor’s June 2022 order to the CM to take a floor test. The Thackeray faction made vehement submissions before the court urging it to turn back the clock and restore the “status quo ante” (previously existing state of affairs) as it had done in 2016 when it reinstalled Nabam Tuki as the chief minister of Arunachal Pradesh.
Senior lawyer Kapil Sibal, representing the Thackeray bloc, urged a five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud to rescind governor B S Koshyari’s order for a floor test, a day after the apex court questioned his conduct in calling for a trust vote merely on the ground of differences between Shiv Sena MLAs.
The bench took note of the submissions of senior advocate AM Singhvi, also appearing for Uddhav Thackeray, and quipped “So, according to you, we do what? Reinstate you? But you resigned. That’s like the court being asked to reinstate a government which has resigned before the floor test.”
The bench, also comprising Justice MR Shah, Krishna Murari, Hima Kohli and PS Narasimha, which reserved its verdict on cross petitions filed by Thackeray and Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde factions, asked Singhvi, “How can the court reinstate the chief minister, who did not even face the floor test.”
