"Had Thackeray not resigned we could have reinstated MVA govt" says, D.Y. Chandrachud

The Supreme Court on Thursday said that had Uddhav Thackeray refrained from resigning as the chief minister of Maharashtra, the court could have reinstated him, but the court cannot quash a resignation. The top court also held that the Governor erred in concluding that Uddhav Thackeray had lost the majority in the House.A five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud said the court cannot quash the resignation submitted by Thackrey. The bench made it clear that had Thackeray refrained from resigning, it could have reinstated him, but the court can't quash a resignation.

The bench noted that the petitioners argued for restoring the status quo ante, however, Thackeray did not face the floor test. The top court held that the Maharashtra Governor erred in concluding that Uddhav Thackeray had lost the majority in the House. The bench said the lack of security to MLAs (Eknath Shinde faction) is not a reason to conclude that a government has fallen and it was nothing, but an extraneous reason to be relied upon by the Governor. The top court said the Governor had no objective material to doubt the confidence of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government and to call for a floor test. The bench noted that Devendra Fadanvis and independent MLAs also didn't move a no confidence motion and the Governor's exercise of discretion was not in accordance with the law.

For the unversed, Uddhav Thackeray had pleaded before the Supreme Court to step in after Shinde, backed by the opposition BJP, engineered a split into Shiv Sena and later formed a new government in Maharashtra with the support of majority MLAs. If Eknath Shinde is disqualified, he will have to resign as Maharashtra Chief Minister and his government will be disbanded. The bench then said that some of the issues involved in the Maharashtra political crisis may require a larger Constitution bench for consideration. There are various petitions pending before the apex court filed by both factions of Shiv Sena. On June 29, 2022, the top court gave a go-ahead to the floor test in the Maharashtra Assembly on June 30.It had refused to stay the Maharashtra Governor’s direction to the then Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to prove his majority support on the floor of the House on June 30. After the apex court’s order, Uddhav Thackeray announced his resignation as the Chief Minister and Eknath Shinde was later sworn in as the Chief Minister.