Bombay HC dismisses plea against withdrawal of MLC nominations by MVA

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The Bombay High Court on Thursday dismissed a petition filed by Shiv Sena (UBT) functionary Sunil Modi, which challenged the withdrawal of a list of 12 MLC nominees submitted to the Maharashtra Governor by the then Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in 2020. The bench, consisting of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Amit Borkar, ruled that the petition was "misconceived" and accordingly dismissed it.

The case revolves around the decision by the Eknath Shinde-led Mahayuti government to retract the recommendations made by the previous Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA government for the 12 nominated seats in the Maharashtra Legislative Council. After the collapse of the MVA government in 2022, the newly-formed cabinet, led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, requested the governor to withdraw the list of nominations that had been submitted earlier. On September 5, 2022, the governor accepted the request, and the list was subsequently returned to the Chief Minister's Office (CMO).

In the wake of this, in October 2024, the governor nominated seven Members of the Legislative Council (MLCs) to fill the 12 vacant posts that had been pending. Of these, three MLCs were nominated by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), two by its allies, Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), respectively.

The BJP's nominations include Chitra Wagh, the state women's wing chief, Vikrant Patil, a state general secretary, and spiritual leader Dharmaguru Babusingh Maharaj Rathod from the Banjara community. The NCP's nominees are former MLA Pankaj Bhujbal and Idris Naikwadi, a minority face from western Maharashtra. The Shiv Sena has nominated Manisha Kayande and former Lok Sabha member Hemant Patil.

The court's dismissal of the plea has now cleared the way for the newly-appointed MLCs to assume their roles, despite the legal challenge to the withdrawal of the original list.

(With inputs from PTI)