Advocates appeared:
For the Petitioner(s): Mr. Kapil Sibal, Sr. Adv. Dr. Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Sr. Adv. Mr. Devadatt Kamat, Sr. Adv. Mr. Amit Anand Tiwari, Adv. Mr. Rohit Sharma, Adv. Mr. Rajesh Inamdar, Adv. Mr. Javedur Rahman, Adv. Mr. Nizam Pasha, Adv. Mr. Anish R. Shah, AOR Mr. Harsh Pandey, Adv. Mr. Revanta Solanki, Adv. Mr. Amit Bhandari, Adv. Mr. Sunny Jain, Adv. Mr. Nishant Patil, Adv. Ms. Devyani Gupta, Adv. Ms. Tanvi Anand, Adv. Ms. Aprajita Jamwal, Adv. Mr. Kapil Sibal, Sr. Adv. Mr. Nishant Patil, Adv. Mr. Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Sr. Adv. Mr. Devadatt Kamat, Sr. Adv. Mr. Rohit Sharma, Adv. Mr. Amit Anand Tiwari, Adv. Mr. Javedur Rahman, AOR Mr. Rajesh Inamdar, Adv. Mr. Sunny Jain, Adv. Mr. Dharmendra Mishra, Adv. Mr. Amit Bhandari, Adv. Mr. Nizam Pasha, Adv. Mr. Harsh Pandey, Adv. Mr. Revanta Solanki, Adv. Mr. Siddharth Kaushik, Adv. Ms. Aparajita Jamwal, Adv. Mr. Nikhil Purohit, Adv. Mr. Ashok Kumar, Adv. Ms. Devyani Gupta, Adv. Ms. Tanvi Anand, Adv. Mr. Siddharth Seem, Adv. Mr. L. Nidhiram Sharma, Adv. Mr. Aman Sharma, Adv. Mr. Ashima Chauhan Singh, Adv. Mr. Mudassir, Adv. Mr. Neeraj Kishan Kaul, Sr. Adv. Mr. Maninder Singh, Sr. Adv. Mr. Siddharth Bhatnagar, Sr. Adv. Mr. Abhikalp Pratap Singh, AOR Mr. Abhay Anturkar, Adv. Mr. Parbhas Bajaj, Adv. Mr. Dhruv Sharma, Adv. Ms. Ira Mahajan, Adv. Mr. Raghav Agrawal, Adv. Mr. Toshiv Goyal, Adv. Ms. Manmeet Kaur Sareen, Adv. Mr. Navneet R, Adv. Ms. Shreya Saxena, Adv. Ms. Yamini Singh, Adv. Ms. Pritha Suri, Adv. Mr. Rangsar An Mohan, Adv. Mr. Ramchandr Madan, Adv. Ms. Vijetha Ravi, Adv. Mr. Ajay Sabharwal, Adv. Mr. Harish Salve, Sr. Adv. Mr. Neeraj Kishan Kaul, Sr. Adv. Mr. Mahesh Jethmalani, Sr. Adv. Mr. Maninder Singh, Sr. Adv. Mr. Siddharth Bhatnagar, Sr. Adv. Ms. Malvika Trivedi, Sr. Adv. Mr. Chirag J Shah, Adv. Mr. Utsav Trivedi, Adv. Mr. Ravi Sharma, Adv. Mr. Himanshu Sachdeva, Adv. Ms. Manini Roy, Adv. Ms. Shivani Bhushan, Adv. Mr. Piyush Tiwari, Adv. Ms. Chaitali Jugran, Adv. Ms. Kanjani Sharma, Adv. Mr. Nihar Thackeray, Adv. Ms. Mugdha Pande, Adv. Mr. Ajay Awasthi, Adv. Mr. Prabhash Bajaj, Adv. Ms. Ira Mahajan, Adv. Mr. Dhruv Sharma, Adv. Mr. Navneet R, Adv. Ms. Srishti Kumar, Adv. Mr. Kumar Sumit, Adv. Mr. Raghav Agarwal, Adv. Ms. Pracheta Kar, Adv. Mr. Aditya Sidhra, Adv. Mr. Nadeem Afroz, Adv. Ms. Sujal Gupta, Adv. Mr. Wedo Khalo, Adv. Mr. Biswaksen Panda, Adv. M/s. Tas Law
For the Respondent(s): Mr. Pai Amit, AOR Ms. Pankhuri Bhardwaj, Adv. Mr. Abhiyudaya Vats, Adv. Ms. Ranu Purohit, Adv. Ms. Bhavana Duhoon, Adv. Ms. Astha Prasad, AOR Ms. Rukhmini Bobde, Adv. Ms. Trishala Trivedi, Adv. Mr. Ankit Ambasta, Adv. Mr. Chirag Gupta, Adv. Mr. Ajit Pravin Wagh, Adv. Mr. Aaditya Aniruddha Pande, AOR Mr. Bharat Bagla, Adv. Mr. Sourav Singh, Adv. Mr. Neeraj Kishan Kaul, Sr. Adv. Mr. Maninder Singh, Sr. Adv. Mr. Siddharth Bhatnagar, Sr. Adv. Mr. Abhikalp Pratap Singh, AOR Mr. Abhay Anturkar, Adv. Mr. Prabhas Bajaj, Adv. Mr. Dhruv Sharma, Adv. Ms. Ira Mahajan, Adv. Mr. Raghav Agrawal, Adv. Mr. Toshiv Goyal, Adv. Ms. Manmeet Kaur Sareen, Adv. Ms. Manmeet Kaur, Adv. Mr. Navneet R, Adv. Mr. Shreya Saxena, Adv. Ms. Shreya Saxena, Adv. Ms. Yamini Singh, Adv. Ms. Pritha Suri, Adv. Mr. Rangsaran Mohan, Adv. Mr. Ramchandran Madan, Adv. Mr. Ramchandra Madan, Adv. Ms. Vijetha Ravi, Adv. Mr. Ajay Sabharwal, Adv. Mr. Dhruv Tank, Adv. Mr. Harish Salve, Sr. Adv. Mr. Neeraj Kishan Kaul, Sr. Adv. Mr. Mahesh Jethmalani, Sr. Adv. Mr. Maninder Singh, Sr. Adv. Mr. Siddharth Bhatnagar, Sr. Adv. Ms. Malvika Trivedi, Sr. Adv. Mr. Chirag J Shah, Adv. Mr. Utsav Trivedi, Adv. Mr. Ravi Sharma, Adv. Mr. Himanshu Sachdeva, Adv. Ms. Manini Roy, Adv. Ms. Shivani Bhushan, Adv. Mr. Nihar Thackeray, Adv. Mr. Piyush Tiwari, Adv. Ms. Ira Mahajan, Adv. Mr. Dhruv Sharma, Adv. Mr. Raghav Agarwal, Adv. Ms. Mugdha Pande, Adv. Mr. Ajay Awasthi, Adv. Mr. Prabhash Bajaj, Adv. Mr. Navneet R, Adv. Ms. Srishti Kumar, Adv. Mr. Kumar Sumit, Adv. Ms. Chaitali Jugran, Adv. Ms. Kanjani Sharma, Adv. Ms. Pracheta Kar, Adv. Mr. Aditya Sidhra, Adv. Mr. Nadeem Afroz, Adv. Ms. Sujal Gupta, Adv. Mr. Wedo Khalo, Adv. Mr. Biswaksen Panda, Adv. M/s. Tas Law Mr. Javedur Rahman, AOR Mr. Ankit Yadav, AOR Ms. Prakriti Rastogi, Adv. Mr. Tushar Mehta, SG Mr. K.M. Nataraj, ASG Mr. Kanu Agarwal, Adv. Mr. Rajat Nair, Adv. Mr. Anirudh Bhat, Adv. Mr. Akshit Pradhan, Adv. Mr. Shreeyash U Lalit, Adv. Ms. Ruchi Gour Narula, Adv. Mr. Arvind Kumar Sharma, AOR Mr. T. R. B. Sivakumar, AOR Mr. Shreyas Gacche, Adv. Mr. Rajsaheb Patil, Adv. Mr. Supriya Wankhede, Adv. Mr. Sudarshan Kute, Adv. Mr. Ashok Kumar Gupta Ii, AOR Mr. Kailash Prashad Pandey, AOR Mr. Mahendra Kawchale, Adv. Mr. Vijay Pal, Adv. Mr. Pramod Kumar Singh, Adv. Mr. Anil Kumar, Adv. Mr. Umang Tripathi, Adv. Mr. Deepankar, Adv. Ms. Rekha Agarwal, Adv. Mr. Karunesh Kumar Shukla, Adv. Mr. Amit Garg, Adv. Mr. Firasat Ali Siddiqi, Adv. Mr. Kundan Lal Gupta, Adv. Mr. Vimal Kishore Rastogi, Adv. Dr. A.P. Singh, Adv. Mr. V.P. Singh, Adv. Mrs. Richa Singh, Adv. Mrs. Geeta Chauhan, Adv. Mr. Sadashiv, AOR Mr. Aaditya Aniruddha Pande, AOR Mr. Bharat Bagla, Adv. Mr. Sourav Singh, Adv. Mr. Pankaj Kuma Singh, Adv. Mr. Mukesh Verma, Adv. Mr. Pawan Kumar Shukla, Adv. Mr. Kamal Kumar Pandey, Adv. Mr. S.C. Tripathi, Adv. Mr. Gaurav Belsare, Adv. Mr. Manindra Dubey, Adv. Mr. Raj Singh Rana, AOR Mrs. Pragya Verma, Adv.
JUDGMENT :
DHANANJAYA Y CHANDRACHUD, CJI.
| | Table of Contents |
| A. Factual Background |
| i. A change in the government of the State of Maharashtra |
| ii. The election of the Speaker |
| iii. The proceedings before the Election Commission of India |
| B. Overview of the reliefs sought in the present proceedings |
| C. The reference |
| D. Submissions |
| i. Submissions on whether Nabam Rebia’s case ought to be referred to a larger Bench |
| ii. Submissions on the merits of the case |
| E. Analysis |
| i. Reference of Nabam Rebia’s case to a larger Bench |
| ii. The power of this Court to decide disqualification petitions at the first instance 62 |
| iii. Validity of the proceedings of the House between the prohibitory conduct and the decision in the disqualification petitions |
| iv. The power to appoint the Whip and the Leader of the Legislature Party |
| a. The bar under Article 212: justiciability of legislative proceedings |
| b. The power to appoint the Whip and the Leader of the legislature party |
| I. ‘Political party’ and ‘legislature party’ are distinguishable concepts. |
| II. Literal and purposive interpretation of the provisions of the Tenth Schedule, the 1986 Rules, and the Act of 1956 |
| v. Deciding who the “real” Shiv Sena is |
| a. The purpose of the Tenth Schedule and the effect of disqualification |
| b. The purpose of the Symbols Order and the effect of the decision under Paragraph 15 |
| c. The test(s) applicable to disputes under Paragraph 15 of the Symbols Order |
| d. The potential for complications in the present case |
| e. Harmonising the Tenth Schedule with Paragraph 15 of the Symbols Order |
| vi. The impact of the deletion of Paragraph 3 of the Tenth Schedule |
| a. The defence of a ‘split’ is no longer available to members who face disqualification proceedings |
| b. The decision of the Speaker under Paragraph 2 of the Tenth Schedule |
| vii. The exercise of discretion by the Governor in directing Mr. Thackeray to face a floor test |
| a. The power of the Governor to call for a floor test |
| b. The Governor’s exercise of the power to call for a floor test |
| viii. The exercise of discretion by the Governor in inviting Mr. Shinde to be the Chief Minister |
| a. Mr. Shinde’s appointment is not barred by Article 164(1B) of the Constitution |
| b. The Governor did not exceed the scope of his authority |
| F. Conclusions |
1. The Writ Petitions instituted before this Court under Article 32 of the Constitution arise from the political imbroglio in the State Legislature of Maharashtra. A coalition consisting of the Shiv Sena, the Nationalist Congress Party, 1[“NCP”] the Indian National Congress, 2 [“INC”] and certain independent Members of the Legislative Assembly3[“MLA”] formed the government in the State of Maharashtra with Mr. Uddhav Thackeray of the Shiv Sena as the Chief Minister. Certain events transpired in mid-2022 which led to the formation of a new government by a coalition consisting of a faction of the Shiv Sena (which claimed to the “real” Shiv Sena), the Bharatiya Janata Party, 4[“BJP”] and certain independent MLAs. Mr. Eknath Shinde of the Shiv Sena helmed the second government as its Chief Minister. The change in the composition of the government in the State of Maharashtra was precipitated by the emergence of two factions within the Shiv Sena. Various issues arising from these events fall to be determined by this Court in these proceedings. A detailed narration of the factual background follows.
A. Factual Background
i. A change in the government of the State of Maharashtra
2. The Shiv Sena was founded in 1966 in Maharashtra. The Election Commission of India5[“ECI”] recognizes the Shiv Sena as a state political party. The organizational election of the party for the ter
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