Shiv Sena moves Supreme Court against Governor

The Shiv Sena approached the Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday evening, alleging that Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari had acted in bad faith by refusing to accept the

The Shiv Sena approached the Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday evening, alleging that Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari had acted in bad faith by refusing to accept the party’s claim to government formation and declining to give it extension to prove a majority in the house.

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Seeking an urgent hearing on the matter, the Shiv Sena, in its petition, accused the Governor of acting at the behest of the Centre. Refusing an urgent hearing, the SC registry asked the Sena to mention the case before the court on Wednesday morning .

People familiar with the situation said that a fresh petition challenging the President’s rule imposed on Maharashtra on the Governor’s recommendation could be filed by the party on Wednesday.

Accusing the Governor of being partisan, the petition asserted that while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) “was granted 48 hours [by the governor] to show its majority, the petitioner’s claim was rejected within a period of 24 hours despite the categorical assertion of the petitioner that it has the majority and that it be given three days’ time to demonstrate the same.”

The petition also expressed apprehension that President’s rule could result in horse trading by the BJP and aid the party in cobbling together a majority through unconstitutional means.

“...whether a political party has the requisite majority or not cannot be determined by the Raj Bhavan, and can only be tested on the floor of the House. Once the petitioner had staked claim, the Hon’ble Governor ought to have invited the Shiv Sena/Petitioner to prove its majority on the floor of the House...,” the petition filed by advocate Sunil Fernandes said.

The petition in the top court also annexed letters of support from eight independent MLAs, namely Narendra Bondekar, Manjula Gavith, Shankar Rao Gadak, Chandrakanth Patil, Ashish Jaiswal, Bachhu Kadu, Rajkumar Patel and Rajendra Patel Vadraokar to the Shiv Sena.