Uddhav questions Maharashtra Governor’s decision to swear in Shinde as CM when disqualification proceedings were pending

Constitution Bench led by CJI is hearing case on the Thackeray-Shinde controversy

Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said in the Supreme Court on Tuesday that the State’s Governor had sworn in Eknath Shinde as Chief Minister fully knowing that he was facing disqualification proceedings under the anti-defection law.

“Can a Governor swear in an MLA against whom a disqualification proceeding is pending before the House? The issue has never come up before,” senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the Thackeray faction, submitted before a Constitution Bench led by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud.

Mr. Sibal said that a wrong inference had been made that there was a “split” in the Shiv Sena just because some legislators who formed the Shinde faction did not agree with the leadership.

“Legislators are there because of the party. Can they sever the umbilical cord with the party and say ‘we can do what we like’? Your Lordships need to analyse the role of the whip here. The whip is the bridge between the legislative party inside the House and the political party outside,” Mr. Sibal argued.

Chief Justice Chandrachud asked Mr. Sibal whether he meant that “unless there was a split within the political party, it cannot find recognition within the legislative party in the House”.

Mr. Sibal indicated that legislators were bound by the political party line. They could not go off on their own or claim there was a split of the party.