The Maharashtra government on Tuesday told Bombay High Court that the Court is not empowered to scrutinize the decision of withdrawing 12 names recommended by the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government for members of legislative council.
A division bench of chief justice DK Upadhyaya and justice Arif Doctor was hearing a public interest litigation filed by Sunil Modi, Area Head of Kolhapur Municipal Corporation, who is part of the Thackeray Shiv Sena.
In November 2020, the MVA government had recommended a list of 12 names to the Governor as MLCs. Soon a petition was filed in the High Court seeking directions to the Governor to decide on the same. In 2021, the High Court decided that it is the Governor’s constitutional duty to accept or return names within a reasonable time.
When Eknath Shinde’s government took over last year, the new Maharashtra cabinet wrote to the Governor that they were withdrawing the pending list of 12 names submitted by the earlier government. The Governor accepted the same on September 5, 2022, and his office returned the list back to the Chief Minister’s Office. This has been challenged by Mr Modi.
On Tuesday, an affidavit was filed by the deputy secretary of Maharashtra government stating that there is no legal basis to challenge this withdrawal.
“The question as to what advice was given by the Council of Ministers and on what basis is not open to judicial scrutiny. It cannot be disputed that it is always open to the council of ministers and Chief Minister to withdraw the recommendations made before the same are accepted by the Governor and the making of the nominations,” the affidavit mentioned.
The affidavit reiterated that the PIL is not maintainable in the eyes of the law and sought for it to be dismissed.
