New Delhi: Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari met the Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi, hours after the Bombay High Court observed that the Governor was duty-bound to give approval for nomination of the Member of Legislative Council. 

Mr. Koshyari held a meeting with Home Minister discussed at length. However, the Raj Bhavan sources said that Governor’s meeting with Home Minister was a “courtesy call”. 

While hearing the petition filed by a resident of Nashik, a division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice GS Kulkarni has observed that Governor has a constitutional obligation to accept or reject the nomination proposal sent by the Maharashtra cabinet to nominate 12 persons to Maharashtra Legislative Council. 

The Governor has not given his consent to the proposal sent by the state cabinet even after eight months. Nomination of the governor’s nominee to the Upper House was the major bone of contention between the Governor and the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) of Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress. 

Court has ruled that eight months had passed since the state cabinet sent the list to the Governor; this was a reasonable time for him to accept the proposal or reject it. The petitioner has sought direction from the court to the Governor to decide upon the Nominations. 

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Maharashtra Cabinet had recommended 12 names to be nominated to the council from the governor's quota in November 2020. The term of the legislators from his quota had ended in June last year.

The government had argued that the governor should have accepted its proposal on nominations, and he cannot keep his decision pending.