Sena (UBT) moves SC for speedy ruling on disqualification pleas against Shinde
Satya Prakash
New Delhi, July 4
The Shiv Sena (UBT) has moved the Supreme Court seeking direction to the Maharashtra Assembly Speaker to decide expeditiously and in a time-bound manner the petitions filed against Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and other Sena MLAs, who joined hands with the BJP to form a new government in June last year.
Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA and Chief Whip of the undivided Shiv Sena Sunil Prabhu, who had originally filed the disqualification petitions against Shinde and other MLAs in 2022, accused Speaker Rahul Narwekar of deliberately delaying the adjudication despite the May 11 Constitution Bench verdict asking him to take a call on the petitions within a reasonable period.
The fresh plea comes days after nine NCP MLAs, including Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, face disqualification proceedings after they joined the Shinde government on Sunday.
A five-judge Constitution Bench led by CJI DY Chandrachud had refused to reinstate the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra for it resigned without facing a floor test even as it faulted then Governor BS BS Koshyari for directing it to prove its majority in the House.
Refusing to disqualify the 16 rebel Shiv Sena MLAs, including Shinde, the Constitution Bench had unanimously said the Supreme Court could not ordinarily adjudicate petitions for disqualification under the 10th Schedule in the first instance and “the Speaker must decide disqualification petitions within a reasonable period”. Despite the categorical direction of the top court that the pending disqualification petitions must be decided within a reasonable period, the Speaker has chosen not to conduct a single hearing, the Prabhu submitted.
“The petitioner has also sent more than three subsequent representations dated May 15, 2023, May 23, 2023 and June 2, 2023, to convene a hearing in the said disqualification matters. However, the respondent Speaker, in brazen disregard to his constitutional duties as a neutral arbiter, has sought to delay the adjudications of the disqualification petitions, thereby, permitting the illegal continuance of Eknath as Chief Minister, against whom the disqualification petitions are pending,” he contended.
He sought direction to the Speaker to expeditiously decide the disqualification petitions dated June 23, 2022, June 25, 2022, June 27, 2022, July 3, 2022, and July 5, 2022, filed by him under provisions of the 10th Schedule of the Constitution (anti-defection law) against the MLAs loyal to Shinde and in a time-bound manner, preferably within two weeks. It’s a settled law that the Speaker, while performing his functions under the 10th Schedule that deals with the anti-defection law, acts as a judicial tribunal and is required to act in a fair and unbiased manner.
“The constitutional requirement of fairness enjoins upon the Speaker the obligation to decide the question of disqualification in an expeditious manner. Any unreasonable delay on the part of the Speaker in deciding the petitions for disqualification contributes to and perpetuates the constitutional sin of defection committed by the delinquent members,” the petition said.
Power tussle
Chief Whip of the undivided Shiv Sena Sunil Prabhu, who had originally filed the disqualification petitions against Shinde and other MLAs in 2022, accused Speaker Rahul Narwekar of deliberately delaying the adjudication despite the May 11 Constitution Bench verdict asking him to take a call on the petitions within a reasonable period
