Uddhav’s Resignation, Governor’s Power: Key Takeaways From SC Verdict on Maharashtra

The Supreme Court on Thursday said that it cannot restore Uddhav Thackeray as the chief minister of Maharashtra as he has chosen to resign on his own.

The order of the Supreme Court indicates that had he not resigned, it would have been able to reinstate him.

However there was also a message for the Governor of the Maharashtra back in the day. The court held his decision illegal and said that he had no objective to doubt the confidence of the Uddhav government last year. The actions by the Governor and his powers will now be heard by a larger Bench of the Supreme Court said Chief Justice of India, D Y Chandrachud.

"The Governor had no objective material on the basis of which he could doubt the confidence of the incumbent government. The resolution on which the Governor relied did not contain any indication that the MLAs wished to exit from the MVA government. The communication expressing discontent on the part of some MLAs is not sufficient for the Governor to call for a floor test. The Governor ought to apply his mind to the communication (or any other material) before him to assess whether the Government seemed to have lost the confidence of the House, "the Bench noted.

The Bench was referring to a resolution of June 21 2022, which had specified that some MLAs of the Shiv Sena were dissatisfied with the functioning of the Uddhav Thackeray led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government. The MVA comprised the Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena, Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).

The court noted that nothing in these communications indicated that the dissatisfied MLAs from the Shiv Sena intended to withdraw their support to the chief minister and council of ministers.

The 141-page judgment authored by the Bench said, "at the highest, the various communications expressed the fact that a faction of MLAs disagreed with some policy decisions of the party. The course of action they wished to adopt in order to air their grievances and redress them was, at the time the floor test was directed to be conducted, uncertain. Whether they would choose to enter deliberations with their colleagues in the House or in the political party, or mobilise the cadres, or resign from the Assembly in protest, or opt to merge with another party, was uncertain. Therefore, the Governor erred in relying upon the resolution signed by a faction of the SSLP MLAs to conclude that Mr. Thackeray had lost the support of the majority of the House."

The June 25 letter also sought restoration of security that was allegedly withdrawn from the MLAs to illegally coerce them into continuing to support the MVA government 'against their free will.'

"The appropriate response of the Governor in such cases is to ensure that the security that they are lawfully entitled to continues to be provided to them, if it has been removed," the Bench said.