Eknath Shinde's future at stake in SC verdict on Shiv Sena row today
2 min read . Updated: 11 May 2023, 06:27 AM IST
PremiumShiv Sena row: The five-judge Constitution bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justices MR Shah, Krishna Murari, Hima Kohli, and PS Narasimha was dealing with the issue related to Maharashtra political crisis.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's job and government will be at stake today, May 11, when the Supreme Court announces the verdict on Shiv Sena's last year mutiny. The top court will deliver the judgment on a plea seeking the disqualification of 16 MLAs of the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena.
If Eknath Shinde is disqualified, then he will have to resign as Maharashtra Chief Minister and his government will be disbanded. Whichever side has greater numbers --- Eknath Shinde or Uddhav Thackeray --- the party will then stake claim to a new government. Hence, Shinde's job and government will be on line today.
The five-judge Constitution bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justices MR Shah, Krishna Murari, Hima Kohli, and PS Narasimha was dealing with the issue related to Maharashtra political crisis.
The hearing of the case which went on for almost 9 days saw senior lawyers making arguments. Kapil Sibal and AM Singhvi were appearing for the Uddhav Thackeray camp and Harish Salve, NK Kaul, and Mahesh Jethmalani for the Shinde camp.
During the hearing, Kapil Sibal argued that the call by Maharashtra Governor to call a trust vote was illegal, and whatever happened between the two factions of Shiv Sena was outside the legislature, not inside. He further submitted that the constitution does not recognize any faction whether there is a majority or minority.
Kapil Sibal also argued that a political party has primacy in the relationship between the legislature and the political party. The Shinde camp lawyers countered this point and said that the political party and legislative party are conjoined and connected and the argument made by Uddhav Thackeray camp that the other factions represent the legislative party and not a political party is a fallacy. Senior Advocate NK Kaul further submitted that dissent is the hallmark of democracy.
Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta was representing the office of Maharashtra Governor and said that the fact that the rival legislators had written to the Governor about their unwillingness to continue with the then government and the Governor invited Thackeray to prove his majority.