Key Points
- Bombay High Court is delaying its ruling on MLC nominee withdrawals.
- The withdrawal happened after Eknath Shinde became Chief Minister.
- The previous cabinet’s list wasn’t acted on by the Governor.
- There were arguments about the Governor’s role in the withdrawal.
- Concerns were raised about delays affecting the Legislative Council’s expertise.
Looma News
The Bombay High Court is thinking over a plea from Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sunil Modi about pulling back a list of 12 nominees for the Member of Legislative Council (MLC). This list was sent to the Governor way back in 2020 by Uddhav Thackeray’s cabinet. But everything flipped when Eknath Shinde, the new Chief Minister, decided to withdraw it after he took over in 2022.
What’s interesting is that the Governor hadn’t even made a call on those nominations before the withdrawal went down. Plus, the Shinde government hasn’t even proposed any new candidates for those open MLC spots. The high court had already said that the Governor can’t just sit on the decisions made by Thackeray’s government.
The Arguments Roll Out
During the hearing, Senior Advocate Yashraj Sing Deora, who’s representing Modi, pointed out that this case is different because it’s all about the Shinde government’s withdrawal. He argued that the Governor shouldn’t just rubber stamp things but should really consider the cabinet’s advice.
On the other side, Advocate General Dr. Birendra Saraf said that once Shinde took over, he talked to the Governor, who then sent back the file about the 12 MLCs, which Saraf claimed made the whole situation pointless. Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya and Justice Amit Borkar jumped in, questioning what the Governor would be deciding on if the advice was no longer relevant.
Concerns and Counterpoints
Deora fired back, referencing rules about government procedures, insisting the Governor should’ve made a smart decision based on all the info available. He pointed out that the previous court ruling gave the Governor 13 months to act, but nothing happened before the list was yanked. He was worried that this delay could take away important expertise from the Legislative Council.
In response, Saraf asked Deora not to introduce new points that weren’t part of the original plea, which mainly focused on the delay in the Governor’s decision. But Deora stood his ground, saying that without proof that the Governor looked at the relevant info, the process was messed up. He mentioned that if any nominees had switched their citizenship, that info should’ve reached the Governor before they pulled the list.
