Shiv Sena asks Guv not to administer oath to new ministers

Mumbai: The Shiv Sena on Tuesday requested Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari not to administer the oath to any minister in the Eknath Shinde government, saying the legality of the decision to appoint Shinde as the chief minister is in question.

Sena general secretary Subhash Desai wrote to Koshyari saying the issues related to the disqualification of 39 MLAs are also pending before the Supreme Court.

Appointment of ministers and/or offering any remunerative posts to persons against whom disqualification proceedings under the Tenth Schedule are pending, and who may be disqualified will be against the letter and spirit of Article 164 (1B) as well as Article 361B, the letter said.

Rewarding persons against whom disqualification proceedings are pending with ministerial berths or remunerative posts would be totally destructive of the Constitutional scheme, it added.

“...the issues pertaining to the disqualification of 39 MLAs are pending consideration before the Supreme Court. Further, the question of the legality of the decision to appoint Eknath Shinde as the chief minister is also sub judice before the Supreme Court,” it said.

Currently, CM Shinde and his deputy Devendra Fadnavis of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are the only members of the cabinet. They had taken oath on June 30.

Talking to reporters, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut said the Eknath Shinde-led government is illegal, and so is the post of the chief minister.

“This is a legal fight. The Cabinet expansion is not happening. If ministers take the oath then that would be against the Constitution,” Raut said, adding, “Until the Supreme Court gives its verdict, the Shinde government is illegal.” 

In a relief to Shiv Sena MLAs of the Uddhav Thackeray faction, the Supreme Court has asked newly-elected Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar not to proceed with the plea seeking their disqualification which was sought by the Shinde camp on the ground of defying party whip during the trust vote and the election of the speaker.