The peculiarity of the Supreme Court verdict on the justifiability or otherwise of the continuance of the Maharashtra government is that both sides can claim to have won. It does not pose any threat to the Eknath Shinde government. Having said this, the one person who has reason to be upset with the verdict is the then governor, Bhagat Singh Koshyari. Since he had already voluntarily given up the office of governor, he too has nothing to gain or lose. Even he can claim some victory, as the court justified his action of accepting the resignation of Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray. In short, it is a please-all verdict — yet, a lot can be read between the lines in the nuanced verdict given by the Constitution Bench, headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud.
Had the judgement been different like, for instance, reinstating the Thackeray government, it could have led to several political complications as a lot has happened during the last nearly one year since the dramatic political turnaround happened in Maharashtra. Whatever be the ethical standards employed to destabilise the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi government, the present Shinde government has proved its majority on the floor of the House on several occasions. It might or might not have been an usurper but today it enjoys a proven majority in the legislature. Nonetheless, the point has to be conceded that the then governor had not been true to the Constitution, especially in the context of the SR Bommai verdict, when he prima facie decided that Thackeray had lost his majority and asked him to prove otherwise. It is not a secret that instead of being voted out, he preferred to quit, because he knew that the vote would have been against him. To argue that he resigned on moral grounds now is to deny the truth. And to compound his guilt, the governor rushed to swear in Eknath Shinde paying little heed to the fact that the deputy speaker was yet to give his decision on the applicability of the anti-defection law against some members who changed sides.
One clear message from the verdict is that the Centre should choose only those who can uphold the Constitution at all times and in all situations, for gubernatorial positions. It also underscores the fact that political decisions cannot always be decided on judicial grounds. They have to be judged by the people. In this case too, the larger court is that of the voters of Maharashtra!
