The Bombay High Court on Friday refused to quash the appointment of Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil and two others as ministers in the BJP-led Maharashtra government but said such appointments made for political gains was not morally correct. A division bench of Justices SC Dharmadhikari and GS Patel in its judgment noted that after the Lok Sabha elections held this year, the BJP got majority votes which might have inspired leaders from other political parties to join the party. The bench dismissed a petition challenging the appointment of Vikhe Patil, NCP-turned Shiv Sena leader Jaydutt Kshirsagar and Republican Party of India (Athawale) leader Avinash Mahatekar as ministers in the Devendra Fadnavis-led government in the state.

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We do not endorse this: Bombay High Court

Vikhe Patil, who was the leader of opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly till he joined the BJP and the ministry, was inducted as the Housing Minister in the Fadnavis cabinet in June. "The ministers have been inducted in the state assembly merely for political gains and convenience. We do not endorse this. What has been done may strictly not be morally correct and may have been a political plot but we cannot hold that the ministers defected and are disqualified," the court said.

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Petitioners: Ministerial posts were in violation of the constitutional provisions

Vikhe Patil was elected as an MLA from Shirdi in 2014 as an Indian National Congress party candidate before he joined the BJP in June. Jaydutt Kshirsagar was former Nationalist Congress Party minister and Avinash Mahatekar had lost the election in 2014 on a RPI(A) ticket. The petitioners Vijay Wadettiwar, a sitting MLA from Chandrapur, Mumbai-based Surinder Arora and two others had alleged that ministerial posts were in violation of the constitutional provisions. The petition was filed by advocate Satish Talekar. Talekar had asserted that the ministers were not the members of either house of the state. 

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On June 17, a day after being sworn-in as Housing minister in the Maharashtra State Cabinet, Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil was greeted with protesters holding placards and chanting 'Aaya Ram, Gaya Ram. Jai Shri Ram,' when he entered the Capitol building in Mumbai to attend the monsoon session of the Legislative Assembly. Two weeks of after quitting the Congress party, Radhakrishna Vikhe along with 12 other leaders took oath as ministers into the expanded Maharashtra Cabinet in the presence of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and other ministers. The newly inducted cabinet included 9 BJP ministers (Patil nominated on behalf of BJP), 2 Shiv Sena ministers and 1 RPI minister.

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