PIL filed before Bombay High Court against Governor's decision to withdraw list of 12 MLCs proposed by Uddhav government

A public interest litigation (PIL) petition has been filed before the Bombay High Court challenging the decision of the Eknath Shinde-led government to withdraw the list of 12 Members of Legislative Council (MLC) proposed by the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government led by former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. .The PIL filed by social activist Deepak Jagdev through advocate Nitin Satpute challenged the September 5 order of Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari accepting the Shinde cabinet's proposal to withdraw the 12 MLCs. The plea said that the actions of the Governor are politically motivated, and also claimed that the legitimacy of the present government is under challenge in a clutch of petitions pending before the Supreme Court.The petitioner pointed out that top court had referred the questions of law arising in those petitions to a Constitution bench and the same are yet to be considered.“Till the time, that is not determined by the Supreme Court, the State of Maharashtra had agreed that no decisions would be taken by the present government,” the petitions said..The Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA government had recommended a list of 12 names to the Governor as MLCs. The 12 persons were recommended for their eminence in the field of literature, arts, social service etc.This list was submitted in November 2020. Subsequently, a petition also came to be filed in the High Court seeking directions to the Governor to decide the same.The High Court held last year that it is the Governor’s constitutional duty to accept or return names within a reasonable time..A year later, after a political upheaval, the State government changed and Eknath Shinde took over as the new Chief Minister of the State.The new cabinet reportedly wrote to the Governor that they were withdrawing the pending list of 12 names submitted by the earlier government.The Governor accepted the same on September 5, 2022, and his office returned the list back to the Chief Minister Office (CMO)..Being aggrieved by the initial inaction and the subsequent hasty action of the Governor, the present PIL came to be filed..The petitioner sought the following reliefs in the PIL:Quashing or setting aside of the letter dated September 5, 2022 passed or issued by the Governor cancelling the list of 12 MLCs recommended by MVA government;Declaring the decision of the cabinet of withdrawing the names as bad in law;initiation of contempt of court proceedings against the Governor for not complying with the order of the Bombay High Court dated August 13, 2021; andIssuance of a writ to the Governor’s office directing him not to lower the honour of the office by encroaching in the filed of legislature by being actively involved in politics of the State.