Maha row: SC says Thackeray can’t be restored as CM

One-liner: Eknath Shinde will continue as the CM of Maharashtra, with the SC holding on Thursday that it can't restore the then Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) govt led by Uddhav Thackeray as he resigned without facing a floor test in June last year.

Ex-governor pulled up: The court also pulled up former Maharashtra governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari and said he did not have reasons based on objective material before him to arrive at the conclusion that the then CM Thackeray had lost the confidence of the House.

Contrary to law: In a unanimous verdict on a batch of pleas related to the political crisis that led to the fall of the three-party MVA govt following a revolt by the Shinde faction in the Shiv Sena, a five-judge Constitution bench held that the then speaker’s decision to appoint Bharat Gogawale of the Shinde faction as the whip of the Shiv Sena in the Maharashtra Assembly was contrary to law.

Not justified: The bench said, "The governor was not justified in calling upon Thackeray to prove his majority on the floor of the House because he did not have reasons based on objective material before him to reach the conclusion that Thackeray had lost the confidence of the House."

• "However, the status quo ante can't be restored because Thackeray did not face the floor test and tendered his resignation." The bench said

Internal party disputes: "The political imbroglio in Maharashtra arose as a result of party differences within the Shiv Sena. However, the floor test can't be used as a medium to resolve internal party disputes or intra-party disputes," the bench noted.

No mechanism: It said neither the Constitution nor the laws enacted by Parliament provide for a mechanism by which disputes among the members of a particular political party can be settled.

Justified: Justice Chandrachud, who wrote the 141-page verdict on behalf of the bench, said the governor was justified in inviting Shinde to form the govt.