Uddhav Thackeray (right) addressed the news conference with Nitish Kumar by his side.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde had "murdered" democracy for coming to power and should step down, his predecessor Uddhav Thackeray said on Thursday, following the decision of the Supreme Court in the ace-off.
"Eknath Shinde won after murdering democracy. If he and his deputy (Devendra Fadnavis) have any ethics, then they should resign," Mr Thackeray said, addressing a news conference after the Supreme Court's verdict with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar by his side.
"They (Shinde faction MLAs) betrayed my party and the legacy of my father. My resignation as the CM then may have been wrong legally, but I did it on moral grounds... How was I supposed to run a government with backstabbers," he said.
In a setback for Mr Thackeray over last year's Shiv Sena mutiny, the Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that Mr Shinde will get to keep his job despite gaining from an illegal decision by the then governor following his mutiny against his former boss.
The Supreme Court said former Maharashtra governor BS Koshyari was not justified in calling upon then Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to prove majority in the assembly on June 30 last year, but added it cannot restore his government because he did not face the strength test and resigned.
Handing Mr Thackeray what his camp has described as a "moral victory", the court also said that the speaker's decision to appoint a member of Mr Shinde's faction as the whip of Shiv Sena, thus negating the then party chief's control, was "illegal".
A five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud delivered the unanimous verdict on a batch of pleas related to the political crisis that led to the fall of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government led by Mr Thackeray following a revolt by Mr Shinde and others.
It, however, said since Mr Thackeray had resigned without facing the floor test, the governor was justified in inviting Mr Shinde to form a government at the instance of the BJP, which was the largest political party in the house.
"The governor was not justified in calling upon Thackeray to prove his majority on the floor of the House because he did not have reasons based on objective material before him to reach the conclusion that Thackeray had lost the confidence of the House," said the court.
"However, the status quo ante can't be restored because Thackeray did not face the floor test and tendered his resignation. The governor was, therefore, justified in inviting Shinde to form the government at the behest of the BJP, which was the largest political party in the house," it said.