HC dismisses PIL by BJP MLA Girish Mahajan, laments non-compliance of its order on nomination of 12 MLCs

The court said it had asked the governor’s office to speak with the CM and reconcile the reservations on the 12 names that had been recommended by the council of ministers on November 6, 2020

Mumbai: In a setback to BJP MLA Girish Mahajan, the Bombay high court (HC) on Wednesday dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by him challenging the amendments to the rules for election of speaker and deputy speaker in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly. In view of the dismissal of the PIL, Mahajan also had to forfeit the ₹10 lakh which he had deposited in HC as a precondition for his petition to be heard.

As a consequence of the dismissal Mahajan forfeited ₹10 lakh and Vyas ₹2 lakh which they had deposited in the HC as a prerequisite for the PIL’s to be heard. (Agencies)

In the course of hearing, the bench also expressed anguish over the stalemate between governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari and chief minister Uddhav Thackeray over the appointment of 12 nominated members of legislative council which has been pending since November 2020.

The court said it had asked the governor’s office to speak with the CM and reconcile the reservations on the 12 names that had been recommended by the council of ministers on November 6, 2020.

On Wednesday, the bench observed, “We are also a constitutional court. How have we been treated? We had passed an order on the 12 MLCs case. Today we are in March, 2022. Eight months have passed and still, nothing has happened.” “The unfortunate part is that the two highest functionaries do not trust each other. You both (governor and the CM) please both sit together and sort this out between yourselves,” said the bench.

According to the amendment, the secret ballot was replaced by open voting and only the chief minister could advice the governor on the appointment of the speaker or deputy speaker. This the advocates stated was illegal. However, advocate general Ashutosh Kumbhakoni opposed the PIL’s and submitted that the PIL’s were not in public interest and hence should be dismissed.

While accepting the AG’s submission the bench observed that the public was not interested in the procedures being followed in the legislature and hence the PIL was unfounded and thus saying dismissed both PIL’s. As a consequence of the dismissal Mahajan forfeited ₹10 lakh and Vyas ₹2 lakh which they had deposited in the HC as a prerequisite for the PIL’s to be heard.