Editorial: Toppling game exposed

Governors should avoid overreach that undermines the credibility of their constitutional office is the clear message from SC

Hyderabad: There are no real winners in the Supreme Court verdict on the June 2022 political drama in Maharashtra. While the Shiv Sena-BJP government, led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, gets to stay in power, the Uddhav Thackeray faction of Shiv Sena can claim a moral victory as the apex court came down heavily on the conduct of then Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari and Speaker Rahul Narvekar, saying the former had erred in concluding that Uddhav’s government had lost its majority in the Assembly without any objective material while the latter’s decision to appoint Bharat Gogawale from the Shinde group as the Whip of Shiv Sena was illegal. The constitutional bench, headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, has redrawn the lines for constitutional office and made known its displeasure over the way things were handled during the turbulent political events that led to the collapse of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition government, which had the Shiv Sena, Congress and the NCP as alliance partners. The court held that the then Speaker should have conducted an independent inquiry based on the rules and regulations of the political party to identify the Whip. However, the Chief Justice made it clear that the court could not order the restoration of the status quo ante as Uddhav quit as Chief Minister without facing a floor test. The constitution bench, in a unanimous judgement, noted that had Uddhav refrained from quitting, it could have reinstated him now. The bottom line is that his resignation cannot be undone now.

There are two key takeaways from the unsavoury saga: one, Governors should avoid overreach that undermines the dignity and credibility of their constitutional office; two, mere difference of opinion among MLAs within a party cannot be a sufficient ground for the Governor to call for a floor test. Had the situation been handled impartially by the then incumbent, the shoe would have been on the other foot today. However, with the court affirming the validity of the Shinde government, the Sena-BJP coalition has got a major fillip a year-and-a-half before the Assembly elections. The verdict has brought the then Governor’s role under sharp scrutiny. In March last, while hearing the petitions, the apex court stated that it was a very dangerous trend for democracy when Governors became willing allies and ended up toppling an elected government. The SC has now lobbed the ball back in the court of Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narvekar to determine the fate of 16 MLAs of the Shinde faction, whose disqualification had been sought by the Uddhav group. It is anybody’s guess as to which way Narvekar, a BJP leader, would decide. However, even if they are disqualified, reducing the House strength to 272 from 288, the BJP-Sena will have enough numbers to continue in power.

---