SC Seeks Maha Speaker's Reply In 2 Weeks Over Uddhav Sena Plea Seeking Disqualification Of Rebel MLAs

The Supreme Court has issued a notice to the Maharashtra assembly speaker seeking a reply within two weeks over ShivSena (UBT) faction plea seeking a decision on disqualification of rebel MLAs.

Supreme Court has issued notice on a plea of Uddhav Thackeray-led faction of Shiv Sena seeking direction to the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Speaker to take an expeditious decision on the disqualification petitions pending against rebel MLAs led by Eknath Shinde. The Supreme Court has sought a response on the plea in two weeks, reported ANI. According to PTI, the plea has sought to adjudicate disqualification petitions against Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde and other MLAs

According to PTI, a bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud passed the order while hearing a plea filed by Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) MLA Sunil Prabhu, who as the chief whip of the undivided Shiv Sena had in 2022 filed the disqualification petitions against Shinde and other MLAs.

"We will issue notice returnable in two weeks," the bench, also comprising Justices P S Narasimha and Manoj Misra, said. Notably, PTI reported, the plea has alleged that Speaker Rahul Narwekar is deliberately delaying the adjudication despite the May 11 verdict of the apex court.

"The petitioner is constrained to invoke the extraordinary jurisdiction of this court under Article 32 of the Constitution of India, in light of the respondent Speaker's conduct in choosing to deliberately delay the adjudication of the disqualification petitions filed by the petitioner against the delinquent members of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly," the plea, filed through advocates Nishanth Patil and Amit Anand Tiwari, said, as quoted by PTI.

It said the speaker, despite the categorical direction of the top court in its May 11 judgment that the pending disqualification petitions must be decided within a reasonable period, has chosen to not conduct a single hearing, stated PTI.

On Saturday, Maharashtra Assembly speaker Rahul Narvekar issued notices to MLAs of Uddhav Thackeray and CM Eknath Shinde factions of Shiv Sena to give their reply on the issue of disqualification. Notices were issued to 40 MLAs of Shinde faction and 14 of Uddhav camp, Assembly Speaker Narvekar said, as quoted by the news agency PTI. This comes in the wake of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar and eight Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs), including Praful Patel and Chhaggan Bhujbal, joining the Shinde government.

The plea was filed by Sunil Prabhu, an MLA from the Shiv Sena (Uddhav faction), who highlighted that a previous Supreme Court constitution bench ruling on May 11 had asked the Speaker to take a decision on the pending disqualification petitions at the earliest, reported legal news website Bar and Bench. However, no action has been taken thus far, according to Prabhu. The plea argues that the constitutional requirement of fairness mandates the Speaker to promptly address the issue of disqualification.

"Any undue delay by the Speaker in deciding the disqualification petitions perpetuates the constitutional offence of defection committed by the errant members... The delinquent MLAs against whom disqualification petitions are pending have blatantly violated the Constitution, which in itself warrants disqualification under Sections 2(1)(a), 2(1)(b), and 2(2) of the Tenth Schedule," the plea states.