The Shiv Sena on Wednesday decided not to go ahead with its plea in the Supreme Court against the Maharashtra governor’s decision to not give it additional time to garner the support to prove its majority to form the government, PTI reported. The party had asked for an urgent hearing of its petition on Tuesday night itself, but the court registry asked it to mention the matter before the top court on Wednesday at 10.30 am.

Advocate Sunil Fernandes, who is representing the Shiv Sena, said that the party had preferred not to mention its plea. He added that another petition challenging the President’s Rule imposed in the state was being prepared.

In its plea against Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari’s decision to not give them time to garner support, the Sena had said that it was in violation of Articles 14 (equality before the law) and 21 (right to life or personal liberty) of the Constitution. The party had called the governor’s actions “ex facie arbitrary and malafide”.

It added that Koshyari had provided 48 hours to the Bharatiya Janata Party and just 24 hours to them to get letters of support. “It also betrays inherent malafide against the petitioners herein in as much as it seeks to treat the petitioners differently and adversely compared to the treatment that the honourable governor has meted out to the BJP,” the petition said.

Koshyari had acted in haste at the behest of the BJP, the plea alleged. The action of the governor in rejecting three days’ time to Shiv Sena is part of the “well-concerted plan of the BJP to invoke Article 356”.

Under Article 356 of the Constitution, the president may take over the administration of a state if the governor submitted a report stating that the Assembly is unable to elect a chief minister within a time prescribed by the governor.

There has been no headway in the government formation in Maharashtra since the results of the Assembly election were declared on October 24. The Shiv Sena and the BJP, which had ruled the state in alliance for the last five years, failed to come to an agreement over power-sharing.

Koshyari had invited the Shiv Sena to stake claim on Sunday after the BJP said it lacked numbers despite emerging as the single-largest party with 105 seats in the 288-member Assembly. The Sena, with 56 seats, came second, while the NCP and the Congress won 54 and 44 constituencies.

Also read:

‘Better than having a BJP government’: Many Maharashtra Muslims support a Shiv Sena-NCP combine

Now, follow and debate the day’s most significant stories on Scroll Exchange.