Eknath Shinde Govt Formed in Maharashtra due to SC Orders: Uddhav Faction Tells Apex Court

The Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena told the Supreme Court on Thursday the formation of a new government in Maharashtra under Eknath Shinde was the "direct and inevitable result" of two orders of the apex court that "disturbed the co-equal and mutual balance" between judicial and legislative organs of the State. Senior advocate A M Singhvi, representing the Thackeray camp, told a five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud that the orders of the top court dated June 27, 2022, and June 29, 2022, "cumulatively and conjointly", were not orders that merely protected the status quo but created a new status quo.

"The formation of a new government on June 30, 2022, was the direct and inevitable result of two orders by the Supreme Court. By June 27, 2022 order this court gave a negative injunction by not allowing the deputy speaker to decide the pending disqualification petitions and, by order dated June 29, 2022, a positive order was passed allowing the trust vote to be held on June 30, 2022," he said. Singhvi told the bench, also comprising Justices MR Shah, Krishna Murari, Hima Kohli and PS Narasimha, that by the order dated June 29, 2022, the court clearly made all acts and omissions which were to follow subject to the final outcome of the pending petitions in the matter. He said "subject to" necessarily and only means that the court is issuing an 'in rem' (directed against a thing rather than an individual) warning that all those who act after the "subject to" order do so at their own risk and any consequences, equities, rights, or new status quo created after the order will be liable to be reversed and status quo ante restored."The consequence of change of government happened fundamentally because the Deputy Speaker was disabled/ fettered in the interim from discharging his constitutional duties under the Tenth Schedule (disqualification law)," he submitted, adding the June 27, 2022 decision was contrary to the 1992 five-judge verdict in Kihoto Hollohan case. The SC judgement in the Kihoto Hollohan case upheld the sweeping powers of the Speaker in deciding the disqualification of MLAs.