New Delhi, March 15.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday expressed concern over Governors using their offices to topple governments, with observations to the effect that the consequences are “very serious for our democracy”.
The remarks were made in the context of the recent rebellion in the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra which led to the fall of the Uddhav Thackeray government and the role played by Governor Bhagat Singh Koshiyari in the developments.
In its prima facie remarks against the Governor’s decision to seek a trust vote in the House, the court said: “Governors must not use their offices to effectuate a particular result.” “This is a concern not a conclusion,” Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud said.
“It is a sad spectacle that we cannot allow.”
“Opposition leaders will always complain. Is that a reason enough to call for a trust vote? Irrespective of the morality of the Shiv Sena forming a government with the Indian National Congress?”
“You are talking about a functioning government which has cohabited for 3 and a half years. The monsoon session of the House was to take place,” the CJI observed. Justice Hima Kohli dubbed the Governor’s move a “pre-emptory” one.
The bench also included Justices M.R. Shah, Krishna Murari and P.S. Narasimha. CJI Chandrachud also sought to know how the Governor could have treated dissent or discontent in one of the three parties in a coalition to call upon the CM to face a trust vote.
He was intervening in the submissions made by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta on behalf of the Governor. Mehta claimed that the Governor was duty-bound to act when such complaints are brought before him.
On the other hand, senior advocate Kapil Sibal argued that the Governor had in effect rendered the disqualification proceedings against the rebels ineffective and treated them as the real Shiv Sena and called for a trust vote.
“We are going back to the aaya ram gaya ram phase of politics,” he said. The rebel faction then goes to the Election Commission which recognises them as the real Shiv Sena, Sibal said.
The five-judge bench is hearing a host of pleas on the Maharashtra developments which culminated in Uddhav Thackeray making way for Eknath Shinde as state CM.
The state Governor had on a complaint by 34 odd Shiv Sena MLAs regarding security threats to them and their families called upon the CM to face a trust vote in the House.
The Maharashtra Vikas Agadhi government chose not to face the trust vote and resigned paving way for a BJP-Sena rebel government led by Eknath Shinde. Since then, the Sena rebels have gone to the top court against the Speaker’s decision to expel the rebel Sena MPs from the House.
The former Chief Minister has also moved the court against the governor’s decision to invite Shinde to head the government in the state. Both sides are fighting over the Shiv Sena symbol. Also pending for the court’s adjudication is the issue of whether the rebels MLAs should be suspended from the House till the Speaker decided their disqualification issue.
