Today(on 10th July), The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a plea from the Uddhav Thackeray faction challenging Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar’s decision to recognize Eknath Shinde’s faction as the legitimate Shiv Sena party. This case involves the dismissal of disqualification petitions against Shinde and his MLAs, holding implications for Shiv Sena’s internal politics.
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NEW DELHI: Today(on 10th July), The Supreme Court has agreed to consider listing a plea from the Uddhav Thackeray faction, which challenges Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar’s decision. The Speaker had declared the Shiv Sena faction led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde as the “real political party” following its split in June 2022.
The plea also contests the Speaker’s dismissal of disqualification petitions filed by the Thackeray faction against Chief Minister Shinde and his supporting MLAs. The case, which holds significant political ramifications, is expected to provide clarity on the legitimacy of the factions within the Shiv Sena party.
A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, was approached by senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi. Singhvi, representing UBT leader Sunil Prabhu, emphasized the urgency of the matter, stating that-
“The plea requires urgent listing for hearing given the assembly’s approaching term end.”
In response, the Chief Justice remarked-
“I will look into it,” and asked the senior lawyer to send an email to expedite the listing process.
Previously, on January 22, the Supreme Court had issued notices to the chief minister and other lawmakers from his group based on the plea by Prabhu, who is a leader of the Uddhav Thackeray faction. The Thackeray faction has vehemently argued that Shinde “unconstitutionally usurped power” and is heading an “unconstitutional government.”
Speaker Narwekar, in his order dated January 10, had also rejected the Thackeray faction’s plea to disqualify 16 MLAs from the ruling camp, including Shinde. This rejection has been a pivotal point of contention, prompting the Thackeray faction to seek judicial intervention.
The challenge against the Speaker’s orders by the Thackeray faction rests on the argument that these decisions are “patently unlawful and perverse.” The faction argues that instead of addressing the act of defection, the decisions effectively reward the defectors by recognizing them as the legitimate political party.
The plea further elaborates–
“All contested decisions are based on the shared determination that the majority of legislators represented the political party’s mandate, hence they are not subject to disqualification.”
In a significant development in the political landscape, the Speaker’s ruling on the disqualification petitions did not result in the disqualification of any MLA belonging to the rival camps. This decision further cemented Eknath Shinde’s position as the Chief Minister, 18 months after he led a rebellion against Uddhav Thackeray, and added to his political heft in the ruling coalition, which also consists of the BJP and the NCP (Ajit Pawar group).
Narwekar stated-
“No party leadership should exploit provisions of the 10th Schedule of the Constitution (anti-defection law) to suppress dissent or discipline within the party.”
When the Shiv Sena split in June 2022, the Shinde group had the support of 37 out of the total 54 Sena MLAs. This significant backing was noted by the Speaker, further validating Shinde’s leadership. Additionally, the Election Commission had awarded the ‘Shiv Sena’ name and the ‘bow and arrow’ symbol to the Shinde-led faction in early 2023, which marked a pivotal moment in the party’s internal struggle.
In his order on the disqualification petitions filed by both the Shinde-led Sena and the rival Thackeray faction against each other’s MLAs, Narwekar made critical observations. He declared that Sunil Prabhu of the Sena (UBT) ceased to be the whip from June 21, 2022, the day the party split, and that Bharat Gogawale of the Shinde group became the authorized whip.
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Narwekar further emphasized that the Shiv Sena ‘pramukh’ (chief) did not possess the authority to remove any leader from the party. He did not accept the argument that-
“The will of the party chief and the party itself were considered synonymous.”
thus delineating a clear distinction between the leadership’s intent and the party’s collective will.
