The Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena has approached the Supreme Court, seeking directives to the Speaker of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly to promptly resolve the pending disqualification petitions against MLAs from both the Chief Minister Eknath Shinde faction and the Thackeray faction. This plea 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.
Prabhu further asserts that the Speaker's inaction in resolving the disqualification proceedings "constitutes a serious constitutional impropriety as it allows disqualified MLAs to remain in the assembly and hold significant positions in the Maharashtra government, including that of Chief Minister."
The Supreme Court's ruling on May 11 stemmed from a case related to the division of the Shiv Sena political party into two factions, one led by Thackeray and the other by Shinde. After the split in June 2022, Shinde replaced Thackeray as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra.
Following the split, rebel MLAs from the Shinde faction received disqualification notices for defying the party whip during the Member of Legislative Council (MLC) elections in the state.
The Supreme Court was called upon to decide whether these rebel members should be disqualified. The court on June 27 last year granted interim relief to Shinde and his rebel group of MLAs, extending the deadline to respond to the disqualification notices from the Deputy Speaker until July 12. Subsequently, on June 29, 2022, the Court permitted a floor test requested by Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, resulting in the fall of the Thackeray government. Shinde then took oath as Chief Minister with the support of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the largest party in the House.
Almost a year later, a five-judge constitution bench of the Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, determined that the former Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari's decision to call for a floor test based on the request of 34 MLAs from the Eknath Shinde faction was incorrect. The Court ruled that Koshyari lacked sufficient objective material to conclude that Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had lost the confidence of the house. However, the Court noted that the status quo could not be restored since Thackeray did not undergo the floor test but chose to resign.
Nevertheless, the Court directed Rahul Narwekar, the Speaker of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, to decide on the pending disqualification petitions against MLAs from both the Eknath Shinde and Uddhav Thackeray factions of the Shiv Sena. The Court emphasized that the Speaker of the legislative assembly is the appropriate constitutional authority to resolve the disqualification petitions within a reasonable timeframe, the Bar and Bench report said. Notably, the apex court also provided factors for Narwekar to consider when deciding on the disqualification petitions.