A Constitution bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud and Justices MR Shah, Krishna Murari, Hima Kohli and PS Narasimha asked this question in light of the fact that the earlier speaker had initiated disqualification proceedings against MLAs belonging to the Shinde camp though the same had subsequently been rendered moot after the top court by an interim order on June 27 had given green signal for the floor test leading to the resignation of then CM Uddhav Thackeray.
“As a matter of propriety, should the Governor have invited Mr Shinde to form the government,” the CJI asked asled Senior Advocate Neeraj Kishan Kaul who was appearing for the Shinde faction.
Kaul then replied by saying there was nothing wrong in the same.
“It cannot be a headless government. It [government formation] was with the party also [BJP)] with whom there was a pre-poll alliance. That CM [Uddhav Thackeray] did not have the moral authority who refused to face the floor. These 39 members [of Shinde camp] cannot be excluded,” Kaul said.
“Suppose the interim order was not passed on June 27 and take it at its worst that the Speaker disqualified these people. They would cease to have been members of the house. Then would the Governor have called a trust vote after noting that 39 were out of the alliance? If the 39 were ousted, then Eknath Shinde would not have been called to form the government, and maybe BJP would have been invited,” the CJI remarked.
The bench added that the Thackeray faction is correct in their argument that Shinde was called to form the government only because the Speaker had not yet disqualified him.
Kaul, however, maintained that the Thackeray camp did not have the numbers/majority regardless.
Source: Barandbench
