Governor “Erred”, But No Relief for Uddhav as He Quit Without Floor Test: Supreme Court’s Big Order

New Delhi: The Supreme Court referred the Sena vs Sena case to a larger Constitution bench. The Supreme Court on Thursday came down heavily on the then Maharashtra governor for taking decisions that helped Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena faction to grab power.

But the apex court opined that Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde will remain in power. The Supreme Court said it cannot disqualify Mr Shinde and 15 other MLAs for revolting against then Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray in June last year.

The court also rejected a request to restore Uddhav Thackeray’s government as he had preferred to resign instead of facing a floor test in the assembly.

The Supreme Court criticized the then Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, for his decisions that helped Shinde’s faction. The governor “erred” by coming to conclusion that Thackeray had lost the support of the majority of MLAs.

This decision was delivered by a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud who clustered eight petitions related to the issue.

Kapil Sibal and Abhishek Manu Singhvi were the advocates for Uddhav Thackeray’s team while Harish Salve, Neeraj Kaul, and Mahesh Jethmalani argued for the Eknath Shinde’s camp.

In February, the Election Commission had awarded the Shiv Sena party name and its bow-and-arrow symbol to Shinde faction. Thackeray’s faction was given the name Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray and the symbol of a flaming torch.