The recent Supreme Court verdict directing the Maharashtra Speaker to decide on the disqualification of MLAs based on the political party’s whip, not its legislative wing, could potentially lead to further legal disputes.
According to reports, the Thackeray faction sees the recent Supreme Court ruling as a significant victory, as they believe that the political wing of the Shiv Sena party is still loyal to them, despite the majority of legislators being aligned with Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
“This is a historic decision. A lot of clarity has come after our arguments in the Supreme Court. The SC has very clearly said that while deciding on the issue of disqualification, the Speaker should decide on the basis of the whip issued by the political party. At that time, Sunil Prabhu (Uddhav group MLA) had issued the whip which was disregarded by them. So, they would have to be disqualified,” Thackeray group’s Anil Parab said.
The Supreme Court has directed Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar to provide a ruling on the matter within a reasonable timeframe, which has been specified as a maximum of three months.
However, it is reported that the Speaker anticipates making a decision within two weeks.
“We believe that the government will fall in 15 days, as the facts are clear. The assembly proceeding records clearly show that Prabhu’s whip was not obeyed. It is not rocket science to figure out that they have violated the whip. So, we believe that the government will fall in 15 days,” he said.
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his deputy Devendra Fadnavis have asserted that the recent Supreme Court ruling, which upholds the power of political parties to issue a whip, does not adversely affect the Shinde group.
“According to our interpretation, Eknath Shinde heads the political party. Even the Election Commission has held the same. The Speaker has to decide who headed the party then. Let us not speculate about it. Let the Speaker decide,” Fadnavis said.
Rahul Narwekar, the Speaker of the Maharashtra Assembly, who is currently travelling abroad, has stated that he will make every effort to reach a decision on the matter as soon as possible. He also mentioned that he plans to review the constitution of the Shiv Sena party thoroughly and consider all relevant factors before coming to a conclusion.
“I can’t say how long it will take… We would have to first determine who Shiv Sena belongs to,” Narwekar said.
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