Supreme Court refuses to restore Uddhav Thackeray Govt in Maharashtra; says ‘resigned without facing floor test’

The Supreme Court of India has refused to interfere with the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra Government with the Bharatiya Janata Party’s support. The Constitution Bench said that Shiv Sena (UBT) founder and former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray resigned without facing the floor test and that the court cannot reverse a voluntary resignation.

The Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud said, “Status quo ante cannot be restored as Mr. Thackeray did not face the floor test and tendered his resignation. Hence the Governor was justified in administering oath to Mr. Shinde with the support of the largest party BJP.”

Furthermore, the Constitution Bench has referred the Nabam Rebia decision to a larger bench, concerning the legal question of whether a Speaker facing a disqualification notice can proceed and decide disqualification petition against MLAs under the Tenth Schedule.

The CJI said that whether a notice to removal of Speaker will restrict the powers of the Speaker to issue disqualification notices needs examination by a larger bench. The CJI also added that the Nabam Rebia case did not strictly arise in the present case and the Court decided the merits of the present case.

Uddhav Thackeray’s Resignation

On June 29, 2022, Uddhav Thackeray announced his resignation as the Chief Minister and as an MLC through social media after the Supreme Court declined to stay the Floor Test on the same day, claiming it was the only way to settle these issues of democracy.

“I had come (to power) in an unexpected manner and I am going out in a similar fashion. I am not going away forever, I will be here, and I will once again sit in Shiv Sena Bhavan. I will gather all my people. I am resigning as the CM and as an MLC,” he said.

He became the Chief Minister after joining an alliance with Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Congress to form the Maharashtra Government, after the collapse of Shiv Sena’s pre-poll alliance with the BJP over the CM post following the 2019 Assembly elections.