In a significant development, the Supreme Court, on Monday, issued a directive to the Speaker of the Maharashtra Assembly, urging expedited action on numerous pending disqualification petitions concerning rebel Shiv Sena legislators. The court, led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud along with Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, stressed that the unresolved proceedings, lingering since May, could no longer be prolonged.
The Supreme Court's ruling explicitly calls upon the Speaker to promptly resolve these matters within a reasonable timeframe. The court expects the Speaker to exercise this constitutional authority with utmost respect and adherence to the directives issued. It has mandated the Speaker to establish clear procedural guidelines and set a definitive timeline for the completion of the proceedings within a week. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta has been tasked with reporting back to the Court regarding the proposed timeline.
This development arises from a plea urging the expeditious resolution of disqualification petitions against members of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly (MLAs) from different factions of the Shiv Sena party. The Court had earlier sought a response from the Speaker of the Maharashtra legislative assembly in July regarding this matter.
The plea was filed by Sunil Prabhu, an MLA affiliated with the Uddhav Thackeray faction, following the inclusion of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar and eight MLAs, including Praful Patel and Chhagan Bhujbal, into the Eknath Shinde faction. Prabhu underscored that despite a Supreme Court Constitution Bench directive issued on May 11, instructing the Speaker to decide on the pending disqualification petitions expeditiously, no concrete action had been taken in this regard.
Prabhu argued that the principles of fairness and constitutional propriety necessitate a swift resolution of the disqualification question by the Speaker.
CJI Chandrachud emphasized that the Speaker must address the pending disqualification petitions, expressing concern that there had been little progress since May. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing Speaker Rahul Narvekar, defended the Speaker's position and highlighted the constitutional nature of his role.
Senior Advocate Neeraj Kishan Kaul, representing some of the rebel Shiv Sena legislators, raised concerns about the portrayal of the constitutional authority as inactive. Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Prabhu, contended that the Speaker was effectively acting as a tribunal in this case.
The CJI stated that the matter would be listed for the next hearing in two weeks and pressed for clarity on the expected duration of the proceedings, emphasizing that they could not be drawn out indefinitely.
Senior Advocate Mahesh Jethmalani, also representing the rebel legislators, mentioned that the petitioner himself had requested additional time before the Speaker.
The Supreme Court's involvement in this case stems from the Shiv Sena party's split into two factions, with Eknath Shinde replacing Uddhav Thackeray as Maharashtra's Chief Minister in June 2022. Following this split, rebel MLAs of the Shinde faction received disqualification notices for allegedly voting against the party whip during the State's Member of Legislative Council (MLC) elections.
The Court had previously granted interim relief to Shinde's rebel group by extending the response deadline to the disqualification notices. Subsequently, a floor test was conducted, leading to the fall of the Thackeray government and Shinde taking oath as Chief Minister with the support of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Almost a year later, a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court, headed by CJI DY Chandrachud, held that the 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 there was insufficient objective material to conclude that Uddhav Thackeray had lost the confidence of the house. Nevertheless, the Court directed 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.
TAGS: Supreme Court Maharashtra Speaker disqualification pleas rebel Shiv Sena MLAs procedural directions timeline pending petitions constitutional authority expedite fairness constitutional impropriety Chief Minister split floor test Constitution Bench objective material.
