The Supreme Court on Thursday said that it cannot restore the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra since Uddhav Thackeray resigned voluntarily before facing a floor test. However, the bench said that the governor erred in concluding that Uddhav had lost majority, adding that his floor test order was wrong. It has also referred the 2016 Nabam Rebia verdict on power of speaker on disqualification of MLAs to a larger bench. The Shinde faction who were on tender hooks before the verdict has now welcomed the Supreme Court's decision. Rahul Ramesh Shewale, from the Shinde faction said, the verdict is a big relief for their faction and Maharashtra will now get a stable govt.
Meanwhile, Uddhav loyalist Anil Parab said, Supreme Court's judgment is in favour of Uddhav Thackeray. It is on record that there was a violation of whip and soon they (Shinde faction MLAs) will be disqualified. The Supreme Court, on Thursday, announced the speaker's decision to appoint Bharat Gogawale of Shinde faction as illegal. The apex court said that the whip of Shiv Sena party was illegal. If speaker and government circumvent no-confidence motion, governor will be justified in calling for floor test, noted the apex court on Maharashtra political row. The apex court was giving its verdict in the case of defection of 16 MLAs in June 2023 from the then Uddhav Thackery-led Shiv Sena. At that time, the Thackeray faction had sought disqualification of the MLAs under the anti-defection law of the country. The apex court also underlined the role of speaker in case of discrepencies in the motion for his removal. In such case, he could proceed with the petitions seeking disqualifications of the MLAs. The verdict was given by a five-judge constitution bench, which was led by CJI DY Chandrachud. The bench consisted of Justices MR Shah, Krishna Murari, Hima Kihli and PS Narasimha.The decision was delivered on a batch of cross-petitions filed by Uddhav Thackeray and chief minister M Eknath Shinde factions on the Maharashtra political crisis.