In his first response to the row over the state’s move to give government nominees voting rights on the boards of large co-operatives, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has said that former Chief Justice of India Bhushan Gavai, who had opposed the move in a legal opinion, was not told a key fact.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Fadnavis said Gavai was not informed that the board of Kolhapur’s Gokul dairy could not meet because no group alone had a quorum.

He did not respond to a follow-up question on how the quorum issue bears on Gavai’s legal view: that allowing nominated directors to vote in office-bearer elections would be arbitrary, and that doing so by ordinance before the November 10 chairman’s election ordered by the High Court would interfere with the judicial process.

The fight over Gokul

Gokul, Maharashtra’s largest milk union, held elections to its 25-member board last month.…