‘Double engine sarkar triply illegal’: Jairam Ramesh slams Shinde govt on SC ruling

Jairam Ramesh slammed the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government after the Supreme Court held the governor, speaker, and the chief whip's action illegal.

Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Thursday slammed the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government after the Supreme Court held the governor, speaker, and the chief whip's action illegal during the political crisis in the state. Ramesh alleged that the “double engine sarkar” in Mumbai is “triply illegal”.

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh. (PTI File Photo)

“Today in relation to the overthrow of Uddhav Thackeray & the MVA Govt in Maharashtra the Supreme Court held: 1. Governor's actions were illegal. 2. Speaker's actions were illegal. 3. Chief Whip's actions were illegal,” Jairam Ramesh wrote on Twitter.

He further quoted advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi - who argued for Uddhav Thackeray's side in the top court in the Maharashtra political crisis case - saying, “In the words of my senior colleague, Dr. Abhishek Singhvi, what moral authority is left for the Shinde-Fadnavis regime to cling to power?”

A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud noted that it cannot disqualify the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government and rejected the submission to reinstate Uddhav Thackeray as chief minister because the latter had chosen to resign.

While the verdict was seen as a win for the Shinde coup, the top court also said that former governor BS Koshyari erred by calling a floor test that toppled the Uddhav Thackeray-led government. It observed that Devendra Fadnavis and the independent MLAs did not move a no-confidence motion and the governor's “exercise of discretion was not in accordance of the law”.

According to the SC, 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”. “The whip has to be appointed by a political party,” the court observed.