The Supreme Court of India has requested a statement from the Maharashtra legislative assembly speaker’s office in response to a petition asking the expedient determination of disqualification allegations against Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and other Shiv Sena MLAs.
Prabhu, who was the Shiv Sena’s main whip during its unification, filed disqualification cases against Shinde and other MLAs in 2022.
Supreme Court Notice: Maharashtra Speaker Receives Decision on Disqualification Appeals
According to the complaint, Speaker Rahul Narwekar purposefully delayed the adjudication procedure despite the Supreme Court’s unambiguous instructions in its May 11 ruling. The court had made clear that the outstanding disqualification petitions needed to be resolved in a fair amount of time. The petitioner, however, has invoked the court’s authority under Article 32 of the Indian Constitution because the Speaker has not held even one hearing.The panel, which also included Justices P S Narasimha and Manoj Misra, announced a two-week notice period.
Speaker Rahul Narwekar is accused of purposely delaying the adjudication proceedings in the Shiv Sena (UBT) issue, despite the Supreme Court’s judgement on May 11 directing the petitions to be resolved within a reasonable time.
According to the petition, filed by attorneys Nishanth Patil and Amit Anand Tiwari, “the petitioner is compelled to invoke the extraordinary jurisdiction of this court under Article 32 of the Constitution of India, given the respondent Speaker’s conduct in deliberately delaying the adjudication of the petitioner’s disqualification petitions filed against the delinquent members of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.”
The petition underlined that despite receiving a clear mandate from the Supreme Court in its ruling on May 11 to process pending disqualification petitions within a fair amount of time, the speaker had not scheduled a single hearing.
Eknath Shinde’s Petitions Before the Supreme Court and Judicial Responses
“The petitioner has also sent more than three additional representations requesting a hearing in the aforementioned disqualification proceedings, with May 15, 2023, May 23, 2023, and June 2, 2023 as dates.” According to the petition, the respondent Speaker attempted to postpone the adjudication of the disqualification petitions “in blatant disregard of his constitutional duties as a neutral arbiter, thereby allowing the illegal continuation of Eknath Shinde as Chief Minister, against whom the disqualification petitions are pending.”
The petitioner emphasized the need of the court ordering the speaker of the Maharashtra legislative assembly to rule on the disqualification petitions filed against the disruptive assembly members as soon as possible.
Prabhu sought the court to direct the speaker to rule on the disqualification petitions submitted on June 23, 2022, June 25, 2022, June 27, 2022, July 3, 2022, and July 5, 2022, ideally within two weeks.
Prabhu underlined in his argument that, under established law, the speaker is obligated to act impartially and equitably when carrying out his duties under the Tenth Schedule, which deals with anti-defection legislation.
The “delinquent” MLAs, according to the petitioner, engaged in flagrantly unconstitutional action, which justifies disqualification under Tenth Schedule paragraphs 2(1)(a), 2(1)(b), and 2(2).
“The Speaker’s inaction in deciding the disqualification proceedings is an act of grave constitutional impropriety, as his inaction allows MLAs who should be disqualified to continue in the assembly and hold responsible positions in the government of Maharashtra, including that of the Chief Minister,” the petition claims.
On May 11, the Supreme Court ruled that Eknath Shinde will remain as Maharashtra’s chief minister. The court held that the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition government could not be reinstated since the Shiv Sena chairman chose to resign without passing a floor test in response to a party uprising.
Shinde was relieved by the unanimous ruling of a five-judge constitution panel, which also admonished Maharashtra’s then-Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari for requiring Thackeray to demonstrate his majority in the assembly at the request of the Sena’s Shinde faction.
Shinde joined the BJP to create a new government after leading the Shiv Sena uprising against Thackeray in June of the previous year, resulting in a nine-day political crisis.
The Supreme Court’s decision to request a response from the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Speaker is a significant move in the continuing legal battle over disqualification petitions. The court’s involvement is expected to speed up the outcome of the petitions and clarify Maharashtra’s political situation.
