New Delhi, May 11.
The Supreme Court on Thursday faulted the Maharashtra Governor for asking former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to face a floor test when there was no objective material before him to presume that he had lost the confidence of the house but refused to reinstate him.
“He resigned voluntarily and did not face the floor test. The Governor was correct in calling the BJP to form a government,” a five-judge bench led by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud, said. The bench said that they cannot quash a resignation.
The Thackeray camp had sought court intervention to restore the status quo ante in the case. The bench faulted the Governor for presuming that Thackeray had lost the confidence of the house.
The only thing that the Governor had with him was a resolution expressing discontent, there was nothing to show that the MLAs wanted to exit the government or that they wanted to withdraw support from the government.
Floor tests cannot be used to resolve inter or intra-party disputes, the court said.
The MLAs’ statement that there was a threat to their life and liberty or that they did not have adequate security was not a reason to conclude that a government had fallen, it said.
This was an extraneous reason relied upon by the Governor, it said.
The discretionary power of the Governor is for explicitly stated subjects in the Constitution, the bench said. The Opposition or Fadnavis could have moved a vote of no confidence but they did not, it noted.
The Governor did not have any objective material and exercise of discretion of governor in this case was not in accordance with law, the court concluded. “But this court cannot quash a resignation.”
The court said that it was referring the Nabam Rabia ruling to a larger bench. In that case, the court had ruled that the Assembly speaker cannot proceed with a plea for disqualification of MLAs if a prior notice seeking his removal is pending decision in the House.
The court also said that the Speaker’s decision to appoint a Shinde camp person as the Shiv Sena’s whip was illegal.
