The Supreme Court issued a notice to Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narvekar on a petition filed by Sunil Prabhu, a leader of Shiv Sena (UBT). The notice pertains to the disqualification of MLAs from the Shinde faction. The court has sought the Speaker to adjudicate the disqualification of Eknath Shinde and the MLAs of Shiv Sena. The matter will be further heard after two weeks.
Sunil Prabhu, Chief Whip of undivided Shiv Sena, filed a petition in the Supreme Court regarding the pending disqualification case against the MLAs of Shinde faction. A three-judge bench consisting of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice PS Narasimha, and Justice Manoj Mishra were hearing the case.
The petitioner’s demanded that the assembly Speaker to expedite the pending disqualification petitions against the rebel MLAs from Shiv Sena’s Uddhav Thackeray faction. Sunil Prabhu also requested the Supreme Court to urge the speaker to expedite the disqualification proceedings against the Shinde faction MLAs.
The petitioner argues that the disqualification petitions against the rebel MLAs have been pending for over a year. The Supreme Court had previously delivered a verdict on May 11, 2022 last year concerning the Uddhav Thackeray faction and the Eknath Shinde faction. The court had ruled that Uddhav Thackeray could not be reinstated as Chief Minister.
Speaker’s Action
However, prior to the Supreme Court hearing, the Maharashtra Assembly Speaker has issued notices to 54 MLAs on 8th July 2023, including CM Shinde. These notices have been sent to MLAs from both the Shinde faction and the Uddhav faction in the disqualification case. Out of the 54 MLAs, 39 belong to the Shinde faction, 14 belong to the Uddhav faction, and one is from another party. The Speaker has urged all these MLAs to respond within a week. The notice stated that if the MLAs fail to respond within the given timeframe, the Speaker will be compelled to make a tough decision.
What was happened a year Ago
In fact, approximately a 13 months ago, Sunil Prabhu, the Chief Whip of the undivided Shiv Sena, issued a whip on June 21, 2022, instructing all Shiv Sena MLAs to attend a meeting called by Uddhav Thackeray. Around 39 MLAs disregarded this whip and did not attend the meeting. Sunil Prabhu determined that Shinde and 15 other MLAs violated the 10th Schedule of the Constitution by defying the whip. Consequently, Sunil Prabhu issued disqualification notices against these 16 rebel MLAs.
Later, under the leadership of Eknath Shinde, the Shiv Sena-BJP government was formed in Maharashtra. Rahul Narvekar was elected as the Speaker of the Assembly. The matter reached the Supreme Court and the Election Commission. The Election Commission recognized the Shinde faction as the legitimate Shiv Sena. The Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court also acknowledged Shinde as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra but directed the Assembly Speaker to make an early decision on the pending issue of disqualification of the MLAs.
Rebellion in NCP
After the NCP (Ajit Pawar) faction Rebelled against Sharad Pawar and joined the Shiv Sena (Shinde)- BJP government, the Uddhav faction believed that approaching the Supreme Court could exert pressure on the Speaker, potentially resulting in a favorable political outcome for them.
Now, all eyes are on the upcoming Supreme Court hearing scheduled in two weeks. It is also important to see that what reply does Rahul Narvekar, the Speaker of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, file in the Supreme Court.