Is Eknath Shinde’s Appointment As Chief Minister illegal? Supreme Court Will Decide on July 11

New Delhi, 8th July 2022: The Supreme Court has agreed to hear the petition filed by the Uddhav Thackeray-led faction against the appointment of Eknath Shinde as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra. The petition will be heard on July 11.

Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice JK Maheshwari’s vacation bench on Friday said the petition would be listed for hearing before an appropriate bench on July 11.

Senior advocate Devdutt Kamat, appearing for Shiv Sena leader Subhash Desai, said they are appealing to list the fresh petition along with other pending petitions, which are to be heard on July 11. Kamat said that we are challenging the appointment of Eknath Shinde as the Chief Minister.

Rebellion of MLAs led by Shinde

The Thackeray-led Shiv Sena in Maharashtra recently faced a rebellion of MLAs led by senior leader Shinde. Most of the party MLAs sided with Shinde, leading to the collapse of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government. Thackeray resigned as chief minister on June 29 and Shinde took oath as the state’s chief minister a day later.

Many petitions have been filed in the Supreme Court on behalf of the Uddhav Thackeray faction. All the matters are to be heard together on July 11. The petition was filed by the Uddhav Thackeray faction against the order of the Maharashtra Assembly Speaker to recognize the new party whip of the rebel Shiv Sena MLAs led by Shinde. The SC has also agreed to hear this on July 11.