Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], May 11 : Asserting that the Supreme Court verdict over the Maharashtra political crisis is the "victory" of democracy and the democratic process, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday said that he is satisfied with the order.
"This is a victory for democracy and the democratic process. We are satisfied with the verdict given by the Supreme Court," Fadnavis said addressing a joint press conference with Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde here in Mumbai.
In a big relief for Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, the Supreme Court on Thursday refused to interfere with the formation of the Shiv Sena government with the support of the BJP, as Uddhav Thackeray resigned without facing a floor test.
The Deputy Chief Minister further said that after the verdict of the SC, Maha Vikas Aghadi's (MVA) "conspiracy" has been defeated.
"The present government is completely legal," he added.
The Supreme Court on Thursday said that it cannot disqualify the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government and rejected the submission to reinstate Uddhav Thackeray as chief minister because the latter had chosen to resign instead of facing a test of strength in the assembly.
A five-member Constitution bench led by the Chief Justice of India, which had been hearing a batch of petitions filed by both the groups of the Shiv Sena from February this year, today ruled that the exercise of discretion by the then Maharashtra Governor BS Koshyari to conduct a Floor Test was not in accordance with the Constitution of India. The bench also said that the Speaker's decision to appoint Bharat Gogawale a whip of the Eknath Shinde group was wrong.
The whip has to be appointed by a political party, the court observed.
The Supreme Court referred its 2016 judgment in the Nabam Rebia case to a larger bench for judgment in the case of the defection of 16 MLAs in June 2022 from the then Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena.
The Thackeray faction had sought disqualification of the MLAs under the anti-defection law of the country.
The apex court said that the Speaker must decide on disqualification petitions within a reasonable time.
The top court said there were no communications relied on by the Governor indicating that the dissatisfied MLAs wanted to withdraw support to the government. The Governor erred in relying on the resolution of a faction of MLAs of Shiv Sena to conclude that Uddhav Thackeray had lost the support of the majority of MLAs.
However, after the verdict, Uddhav Thackeray asked Shinde to tender his resignation from the post on 'moral grounds'.
"People who left my party have no right to ask me questions. If this CM has any morality, he must resign as I did. They betrayed my party and the legacy of my father. I may have done wrong by resigning but I did it on moral grounds," Uddhav said while talking to the reporters here.
l Parab, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader said, "Supreme Court's judgement 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."
Rahul Ramesh Shewale, leader of Shiv Sena (Shinde faction) called the SC's rule over the issue a "big relief" for the party.
"This is a big relief to the Shinde government in Maharashtra. Now the State will get a stable government. We welcome Supreme Court's decision," Rahul Ramesh Shewale said.
However, Nationalist Congress Party leader Dilip Walse Patil said that the verdict presents a critical stance on the fabric of Maharashtra's politics as a whole.
"The verdict given by the Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court regarding the political transition in Maharashtra, which took place about 11 months ago, presents a critical stance on the fabric of Maharashtra's politics as a whole."
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