The Supreme Court, in its recent hearing of the Shiv Sena coup case, made pointed comments regarding the responsibilities of a Governor. It emphasised that the exercise of power by a Governor should be done with caution, as calling for a trust vote can potentially lead to the downfall of the government.
The Court particularly scrutinised Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari's actions in the Maharashtra vote, which resulted in the removal of the Uddhav Thackeray-led government in the previous year.
๐๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐น๐ฑ ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฐ๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐ด๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฐ๐๐บ๐๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป: ๐ฆ๐
Commenting on the governor's role, the SC said: "The Governor must be conscious that calling for a trust vote may lead to the toppling of the government."
"The Governor should not enter any area which precipitates the fall of a government," the Apex Court judges said, further stressing that governors must exercise their powers with the greatest circumspection.
๐ง๐ถ๐บ๐ฒ๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฆ๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฎ ๐๐ฝ๐น๐ถ๐
In June, a coup in the Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde resulted in the downfall of the three-year-old Sena-NCP-Congress coalition government in Maharashtra, with Uddhav Thackeray as the leader. Following this, Shinde formed a new government with the BJP.
Following that, the groups headed by Thackeray and Eknath Shinde have been battling for acknowledgement as the "real Shiv Sena".
The Eknath Shinde faction was granted the Shiv Sena name and election symbol by the Election Commission in the previous month. However, Thackeray, who lost control of the party established by his father Bal Thackeray, is still battling the Shinde faction in the Supreme Court. Petitions have been filed in the Supreme Court challenging the legitimacy of the Shinde government, claiming that Shinde and 15 other rebels were disqualified during the trust vote.
๐๐๐ ๐ฎ๐๐ธ๐ ๐๐ผ๐๐ด๐ต ๐พ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฆ๐
Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, during the hearing on the matter on Wednesday, said: "They broke bread for three years. They broke bread with (Congress) and NCP for three years. What happened overnight after three years of happy marriage?"
CJI Chandrachud said the governor has to ask himself this question: "What were you fellas doing for three years? If it was one month after the election takes place and they suddenly bypassed the BJP and joined INC, that's different. Three years you cohabit and suddenly one fine day group of 34 say there is discontent. Enjoying the spoils of office and suddenly one day you just..."
The bench repeatedly questioned the counsels regarding the basis on which the floor test was ordered.
๐ ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐๐๐ณ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ฟ๐๐๐ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฒ: ๐๐๐
CJI Chandrachud asked: "Governor's trust vote is where the majority in the house is shaken. Where was there anything to indicate that?"
As Solicitor General Tushar Mehta argued that the rebels had lost faith in Uddhav Thackeray, Chief Justice DY Chandrachud stated that mere discontent within a party does not provide sufficient grounds for the governor to call for a vote of confidence. The Chief Justice also pointed out that the governor must acknowledge that dissent was only present in one of the three parties that formed the coalition.
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