Though the alliance government had taken a policy decision to set up the Maharashtra Law Commission on September 30, 1996, no appointments were made on it owing to serious differences between the BJP and Shiv Sena.

Initially, there was a proposal to appoint former Chief Secretary Sharad Upasani. However, for obvious political reasons, it was dropped. In fact, Upasani, who was brought in to head the state bureaucracy by the then Chief Minister Sharad Pawar, was asked to proceed on leave before his retirement, since, most of the cabinet members felt that he was anti-alliance.

Dudhat was the head of the one-man commission of inquiry, which probed into the charges of corruption against senior Shiv Sena leader and the then Agriculture Minister Shashikant Sutar.

Following specific complaints made against Sutar and thethen Irrigation Minister Mahadev Shivankar, Joshi not only divested them of their portfolios, but also appointed Justice Suryakant Puranik to probe into the charges of corruption against them.

The Puranik Committee held Sutar guilty of corruption but exonerated Shivankar. Following recommendation made by the Puranik Committee, the alliance government had appointed Justice M L Dudhat under the Commission of Inquiry Act to probe into the charges of corruption against Sutar. Dudhat acquitted Sutar of all the charges of corruption. Significantly, though Shivankar was given the Finance portfolio, Sutar was asked to resign from the cabinet.

In fact, immediately after Dudhat submitted the report, the then Chief Minister Manohar Joshi had proposed to appoint him as the Chairman of the Maharashtra Law Commission. In fact, Joshi had even sought his consent, however, following strong criticism in a section of the media, Joshi had dropped the proposal. Now, Chief Minister Narayan Rane has appointed Dudhat on thecoveted post.

Though other members have not been appointed yet, there will be a total of 10 members--two retired district judges, six prominent lawyers from each of the revenue division, while Law Secretary will be ex-officio member and in addition, there will be a member secretary.

The main task before the commission will be to examine and review the existing legislations, simplify the existing laws and rules there under and recommend measures for speedy disposal of pending cases.

In addition, the commission will also examine the Contempt of Court Act as well as the law of defamation and recommend if a uniform legislation for all the municipal corporations in the state was possible. It would also consider the issue of abolition of outdated legislations.