The Supreme Court will on Thursday pronounce its verdict on a batch of cross-petitions filed by Uddhav Thackeray and chief minister M Eknath Shinde factions on Maharashtra political crisis. The Court in its verdict said it cannot order the restoration of Uddhav government as he resigned without facing floor test, although the governor's decision for floor test was wrong and Speaker was wrong in appointing whip of Eknath Shinde group.SC said had Uddhav Thackeray not resigned, it could have restored the status quo.
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.