New rule gives Maharashtra CM Fadnavis power to overrule any minister’s decision

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis can override any decision taken by any state minister if he considers it necessary in public interest and is recorded in writing, as per the new rules enacted by the state government, reports said.

The rules were issued by the General Administration Department and published in the state gazette on August 14.

Quasi-judicial matters exempted

The Maharashtra government has notified the 'Maharashtra Government Rules of Business, 2026' and under the new rules, Chief Minister Fadnavis has been granted explicit authority to intervene in and alter decisions made by any minister if deemed to be in the public interest, according to a report in NDTV.

Also read: Is Fadnavis moving to national politics? Maharashtra CM answers

However, the Chief Minister cannot use his powers in quasi-judicial matters.

The notification states, “Notwithstanding anything contained in these rules, the Chief Minister may, in the public interest, override the decision taken by any Minister in any cases, except in quasi-judicial cases, by recording reasons therefore, in writing.”

The new rule could significantly alter the equations in the Mahayuti coalition government comprising the BJP, Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde), and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).

Though each minister in the government is primarily responsible for their department, the Chief Minister’s power to change their decision in “public interest” can have a political impact within the coalition government.

2023 co-operative bank case

The new rule has a link to 2023 recruitment process case of Chandrapur District Central Co-operative Bank Ltd.

In March 2023, the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court quashed the decision of then Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde to stay the recruitment process of the co-operative bank, noting that the Chief Minister has no powers to review or modify the calls taken by the minister concerned.

Also read: Rahul Gandhi’s Pune strategy: Why women students are drawing attention

A Division Bench of Justices Vinay Joshi and Valmiki SA Menezes in its order of March 3 termed Shinde’s decision “wholly unwarranted and without authority of law”.

According to the plea, the Chief Minister’s order was passed at the behest of local politicians.

‘CM’s intervention wholly unwarranted’

The court held that the Chief Minister has no independent power assigned under the “Rules of Business and Instructions” to review or modify the decision taken by the in-charge minister.

“The intervention of the Chief Minister is wholly unwarranted and without the authority of law. The Chief Minister has no independent power under the Business Rules and Instructions to interfere into the subject which was allocated to the In-charge Minister,” the court said in the order.

The Chief Minister was not the head of the “Cooperation Department”, but the said department was assigned to a separate minister, the Bench said.

“There is no authority/power vested in the Chief Minister as per Rules of Business and Instructions to have supervisory powers over the decision taken by the concerned Minister. Nor do the Rules indicate that the Minister is subordinate to the Chief Minister as regards independent functioning of a department assigned to him by the Rules,” it added.

(With agency inputs)