The Supreme Court on Friday issues notice to office of Maharashtra Assembly speaker on plea to adjudicate disqualification petitions against CM Eknath Shinde, Shiv Sena MLAs, who had tied up with the BJP to form a new government in June 2022.
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.
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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.
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.
After the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly polls, Thackeray snapped ties with long-term ally BJP over the issue of sharing the chief ministerial post. He then formed the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, comprising the Shiv Sena (then undivided), NCP and Congress.
A revolt led by Shinde resulted in the collapse of the MVA government in June 2022 and a split in the Shiv Sena. Shinde later became the CM with the BJP’s support. On July 2 this year, NCP’s Ajit Pawar led a split in the Sharad Pawar-led party and joined the Shinde government as deputy chief minister. Eight other NCP leaders were also sworn in as ministers in the state cabinet.
(With inputs from agencies)
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Updated: 14 Jul 2023, 01:30 PM IST
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