Plea in HC seeks direction to Maha Guv for Uddhav's nomination

    Mumbai, Apr 30 (PTI) A petition was filed in the
Bombay High Court on Thursday by a social worker, seeking a
direction to the Maharashtra Governor to decide on the state
cabinet's recommendation to nominate Chief Minister Uddhav
Thackeray to the Legislative Council through his quota.
    The petition, filed by one Surinder Arora through his
advocate S B Talekar, noted that with the COVID-19 outbreak
the administration of every establishment across the world has
come to a standstill.
    "The BJP as part of its political game plan is trying
to make Uddhav Thackeray step down from the post of chief
minister with the help of Maharashtra governor (B S Koshyari).
However, today is not the time to play politics when the state
has to fight the battle against coronavirus," the plea
claimed.
    The petition sought the court to direct the governor
to take a decision on the proposal submitted by the cabinet
expeditiously or within three days.
    Arora's plea is likely to be taken up for hearing on
May 5.
    "In India, the Election Commission of India has
postponed all elections across the states. Owing to this, the
chief minister of Maharashtra, who is a non-legislator, will
not be in a position to become a member of the Legislature
within a period of six months from the date of his
appointment," the plea said.
    The government of Maharashtra will be destabilised due
to non-availability of chief minister, which will prove to be
a disaster in such challenging times, it added.
    The plea said that the governor has not yet taken a
decision on the recommendation made by the council of
ministers despite lapse of 20 days.
    "The petitioner being a citizen of India and a valid
voter is seeking a direction to the governor to decide upon
the recommendation as expeditiously as possible so as to avoid
a situation of a destabilised government in such crucial
times," the plea said.
     Thackeray, who is not a member of either house of
the state legislature, was sworn in as chief minister on
November 28, 2019. He has to become a member by May 28 when he
completes six months in office. Otherwise he will cease to the
chief minister.
    The Maharashtra cabinet had on April 9 recommended
Thackeray's nomination as one of the governor nominees in the
Legislative Council.
    A delegation of MVA leaders led by deputy chief
minister Ajit Pawar met the governor on Tuesday, and handed
over the cabinet decision's copy to him.
    The recommendation was made as all elections have been
postponed by the Election Commission due to the COVID-19
pandemic. Once the governor accepts the cabinet's
recommendation, Thackeray will continue in the post. PTI SP
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(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)