Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Thursday, January 9, dismissed a PIL filed by Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sunil Modi challenging the withdrawal of a list of 12 MLC nominees sent for governor's approval in 2020. The PIL was dismissed by a division bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyay and Justice Amit Borkar.
Notably, Eknath Shinde Government withdrew the list in 2022. Last year in October, the Maharashtra government informed the Bombay High Court that there was no impediment to appoint seven Member of Legislative Council (MLC) by the Governor.
Modi told the high court that even as order was reserved in his plea challenging the withdrawal of a list of 12 MLC nominees sent for governor's approval in 2020, the government sent fresh names to the Governor the day before.
The HC, on October 7, concluded the hearing in Modi’s PIL and reserved the judgement. In July 2023, Modi had challenged the decision of the Eknath Shine-led government to withdraw the recommendations made by erstwhile Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government for the 12 nominated seats.
About The Case:
After the government changed in 2022 and Eknath Shinde took over as the State Chief Minister, the new cabinet reportedly wrote to the Governor that they were withdrawing the pending list of 12 names submitted by the earlier government. On September 5, 2022, the Governor accepted the same and the list was returned to the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO).
Modi has challenged this before the HC raising a grievance against the Governor's refusal to act on nominations made to the Legislative Council of Maharashtra for an inordinately long period
