Shiv Sena tussle: SC verdict today, Maharashtra parties keep fingers crossed

In July, when Shinde sought a trust vote on the floor of the Assembly, the ruling BJP-Shiv Sena combine got the support of 164 out of a total of 288 MLAs, with the alliance crossing the halfway mark of 145.

A five-judge constitution bench of the Supreme Court comprising of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud and Justices MR Shah, Krishna Murari, Hima Kohli, and PS Narasimha concluded the hearing on March 16 and reserved its verdict on pleas filed by both the groups.

While reserving its verdict, the bench had asked how could Uddhav Thackeray be reinstated as CM, even if it finds the Governor’s action in calling for a trust vote illegal, given that he had resigned without facing the floor test, “accepting” that he was in a minority. The remark came as the Thackeray group urged the bench to restore the status quo ante.

The Thackeray faction pleaded before the apex court for setting aside then Maharashtra Governor BS Koshyari’s June 2022 order to then CM Uddhav Thackeray to take a floor test, asserting democracy will be in danger if it is not overturned.

The Supreme Court expressed reservations about the extent to which it can turn back the clock, remarking that it might not be possible to restore the earlier speaker (the then deputy speaker) decide on disqualification petitions of MLAs of Eknath Shinde camp or invalidate the trust vote which never took place (since Uddhav Thackeray resigned before the trust vote was held).

The court had also opined that the letter written by Koshyari in June, 2022, asking Thackeray to undergo floor test to prove his majority in the state assembly had “extraneous and irrelevant grounds”. It had also questioned the Governor’s decision to call for a floor test based on discontent with the Shinde faction with the party leader.

From June 2022, the Supreme Court has been hearing a batch of petitions filed by both the groups from Sena.

On August 23, 2022, a three-judge SC bench led by then CJI NV Ramana referred the questions arising out of petitions filed by rival camps to a five-judge Constitution Bench. Former CJI Ramana framed 10 issues for the consideration of the Constitution Bench.

The first of these was to ascertain whether the notice for removal of the Speaker restricted him/her from continuing with disqualification proceedings under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution.

The five-judge Constitution Bench was also asked to address the issue of scope and powers of the Election Commission of India (ECI) to take a decision on the split within a party.

Background of the petitions

Leaders of the Shinde camp first challenged the June 21 decision of the Assembly Deputy Speaker Narhari Zirwal recognising Ajay Choudhari as leader of the Shiv Sena Legislature Party (SSLP) in place of Shinde, calling it “illegal, unconstitutional”, and taken with “bias”.

They said Zirwal had taken the decision because his party, the NCP, was supporting the “minority faction” of the Sena led by Thackeray. The plea also challenged the disqualification notices served on Shinde and 15 MLAs supporting him on June 25 for not attending a party meeting convened by then Chief Minister Thackeray.

Zirwal told the court that the no-confidence motion against him was rejected as the genuineness or veracity of the notice could not be ascertained.

On June 27, a Bench of Justices Surya Kant and JB Pardiwala extended until July 12, 2022, the 48-hour window given by Zirwal to the 16 Shinde camp MLAs to reply to the disqualification notices served on them. The court, however, refused to restrain the holding of the floor test in the Assembly until July 11.

Then Governor Koshyari asked Thackeray to face a floor test on June 30 to prove his majority. After the SC refused to stay the floor test, Thackeray resigned at night on June 29.

On June 30, Shinde was sworn in as the new CM of Maharashtra, with BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis as his deputy.

On July 3, BJP MLA Rahul Narwekar was elected Speaker of the Assembly. The government led by Shinde won a trust vote on July 4. The rival factions then accused each other of defying the party whip on July 3 and July 4, and sought the disqualification of legislators from both sides.

The Thackeray camp, through its general secretary Subhash Desai, then moved the Supreme Court challenging the Governor’s appointment of Shinde as CM, and Narwekar’s decision to recognise the Shinde group’s nominee as the party’s Chief Whip.