Mumbai, March 25 Maharashtra Legislative Council Chairman Ram Shinde said on Wednesday that his deputy Neelam Gorhe's order to suspend Satara SP Tushar Doshi over the commotion during the Zilla Parishad president election would be forwarded to legal and constitutional experts for their opinion, and only then a decision would be made.
Shinde made the remarks two days after Council Deputy Chairperson Gorhe asked the state government to suspend Satara SP Tushar Doshi, a directive that did not go down well with the BJP, which heads the ruling coalition.
"The decision on suspending Satara SP and other officials will be forwarded to legal and constitutional experts, and a decision will be made later," Shinde said in the Upper House, effectively putting on hold the suspension of the IPS officer and other officials over the commotion during the ZP president election last week.
After considering the deputy chairperson's decision, the government must investigate the incident and take action according to the law, the Chairman maintained.
He concurred with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis' argument on the issue.
On Tuesday, Fadnavis said that the powers of the executive, judiciary, and legislature are well defined in the Constitution.
Executive powers rest with the executive, and it is accountable to the legislature. The government makes an effort to implement the direction given by the chair, the CM stated.
"But, after apologizing to the chair, I am saying this. The speaker (of the assembly) and the chairman (of the council) cannot step into the shoes of the executive," the CM had asserted.
"When the chair issues any direction, it is a direction issued according to the given circumstances. The executive acts if there is any reality to it. If the facts are different from reality, the executive has the right to tell the legislature that the reality is different and its direction cannot be implemented," Fadnavis, who holds the Home portfolio, said.
Ministers Shambhuraj Desai (Shiv Sena) and Makarand Patil (Nationalist Congress Party) had alleged that the local police manhandled them during the election held on Friday to elect the Satara ZP president.
Bharatiya Janata Party's Priya Shinde was elected the Satara ZP president, defeating the Shiv Sena-NCP combine's candidate despite the latter having a majority in the rural local body. The BJP narrowly surpassed the Sena-NCP alliance's tally to win the top post.