Former Maharashtra Chief Minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Devendra Fadnavis on Friday welcomed the Supreme Court's decision to set aside the one-year suspension of 12 Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs from Maharashtra from the state Legislative Assembly.
He said that it is yet another tight slap on the face of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government for its 'unconstitutional, unethical, unfair, illegal and undemocratic actions and activities'.
"We welcome and thank the Supreme Court for the historic decision of quashing of suspension of our 12 BJP MaharashtraMLAs, who were fighting for the cause of OBCs in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly during the monsoon session," he said.
"This decision of the Hon'ble Supreme Court will save the democratic values and it is yet another tight slap on the face of the MVA Government for its unconstitutional, unethical, unfair, illegal and undemocratic actions and activities. I congratulate our BJP Maharashtra 12 MLAs for getting justice," he added.
"Since the beginning, we were saying that it was a completely unconstitutional and gross misuse of power to suspend our MLAs for such a long period to create an artificial majority and that too for no valid reason and the Supreme Court has upheld our stand," he stated.
"It was not only a question of 12 MLAs but of more than 50 lakh citizens in these 12 constituencies. Democracy saved!!," he further stated.
Meanwhile commenting on the decision, Maharashtra Minister and Shiv Sena leader Aditya Thackeray said, "It's better to comment on the issue after we have a detailed order of the Supreme Court."
Earlier on Friday, the Supreme Court set aside the one-year suspension of 12 Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs from Maharashtra from the state Legislative Assembly terming it "unconstitutional and arbitrary".
A Bench headed by Justice AM Khanwilkar held that suspension of MLAs could not have been suspended beyond that ongoing Monsoon session in July 2021.
Twelve MLAs were suspended for one year for allegedly misbehaving with the presiding officer.
( With inputs from ANI )
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