In November 2020, the Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA government submitted a list of 12 names to the Governor for nomination to the Legislative Council. However, the Governor did not act on the recommendation for an extended period, leading to a petition being filed in the Bombay High Court in 2020. The petition sought directions for the Governor to either accept or return the list within a reasonable timeframe.
Bombay: The Bombay High Court, on Thursday, (9th Jan) dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) that challenged the decision of the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government to withdraw 12 nominations for Members of Legislative Council (MLC).
These nominations had been recommended by the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government led by Uddhav Thackeray. The decision to withdraw the nominations was made in September 2022.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya and Justice Atul Borkar ruled that the PIL was “misconceived” and “liable to be dismissed”.
This decision brought an end to the legal challenge initiated against the withdrawal of the nominations.
Background
In November 2020, the Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA government submitted a list of 12 names to the Governor for nomination to the Legislative Council. However, the Governor did not act on the recommendation for an extended period, leading to a petition being filed in the Bombay High Court in 2020. The petition sought directions for the Governor to either accept or return the list within a reasonable timeframe.
Last year, the High Court ruled that it was the Governor’s constitutional duty to act on such recommendations within a reasonable period. However, following a political upheaval in Maharashtra, Eknath Shinde became the Chief Minister, and the new government decided to withdraw the pending nominations.
On September 5, 2022, the Governor accepted the withdrawal and returned the list to the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO).
The PIL was filed by Sunil Modi, Area Head of the Kolhapur Municipal Corporation and a member of the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray faction). Modi expressed his grievance over the Governor’s prolonged inaction, pointing out that the nominations had been pending for 1 year and 10 months.
Additionally, Modi raised concerns about a recent move by Maharashtra Governor CP Radhakrishnan, who approved a new list of seven MLCs just before the announcement of the Maharashtra Assembly elections. Modi argued that the Governor’s approval of the new list was improper as the earlier nominations were still under legal scrutiny.
Senior Advocate Anil Anturkar, representing Modi, argued that the Governor failed to respect the earlier division bench judgment of the High Court. He stated:
“This is the case where authority is sitting tight on it for 8 months. The Court said that this is a matter where some decision is required, in a polite manner. Something which is said by the Court was not respected. That would not be proper. The division bench asked the governor to speak his mind.”
On the other hand, Advocate General (AG) Dr. Birendra Saraf, representing the government, opposed the PIL on the grounds of maintainability. He emphasized that there was no restriction on the cabinet’s authority to withdraw recommendations.
He argued:
“Today there is no recommendation before the Governor. Petitioner today cannot say that ‘recommendation is made it should continue forever’. It is not his case that the Governor should have decided earlier.”
Dr. Saraf further clarified that the Governor returned the recommendation file because there were no other recommendations pending after the withdrawal by the new cabinet.
Case title: Sunil Modi vs. State of Maharashtra & Ors. (PIL No. 119 of 2023)
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