Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena told the Supreme Court that the constitutional issues that the June 2022 Maharashtra political crisis raised were not merely academic as they will arise time and again when elected governments are toppled.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), argued before a five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud that manipulations are being allowed within legislative parties to topple governments which is contrary to Tenth schedule.
This is not about today. This is about tomorrow. It will arise time and again.This issue will arise time and again. Elected governments will be toppled. No democracy in the world allows this to happen. So please don't say this is academic. I beg of you. Do not allow Tenth schedule to topple an elected government. It is not just a narrow interpretation, Sibal told the bench which also comprised justices M R Shah, Krishna Murari, Hima Kohli and P S Narasimha.
The top court, which reserved its judgement on the issue of reference to a larger bench, said one of the aspects to be considered is whether the 2016 Nabam Rebia judgment was applicable at all to the case at hand.
The resignation of the Chief Minister (Thackeray) obviated the floor test so the voting pattern was not revealed so does Nabam Rebia arise? Of course, interesting proposition but can the court venture into this area without facts? the CJI observed.
The judgement had come to the rescue of the rebel MLAs led by Eknath Shinde, now the chief minister of Maharashtra. The Thackeray faction had sought their disqualification even while a notice of the Shinde group for the removal of Maharashtra Assembly deputy speaker Narhari Sitaram Zirwal, a Thackeray loyalist, was pending before the House.
Having stood threatened by any such legitimate expression of dissent as Intra-Party democracy, the leader (former CM) sought to punish all these 40 Shiv Sena MLAs with a hurried action of anti-defection under the Tenth Schedule with the threat of their disqualification. The Deputy Speaker proceeded to fulfil the desire of the leader of the party to disqualify these 40 Shiv Sena MLAs by a completely illegal process, he submitted.