Today(on 29th July), The Supreme Court has sought responses from Ajit Pawar and his MLAs on a plea challenging the Maharashtra Speaker’s decision recognizing his group as the legitimate NCP. The court, led by CJI DY Chandrachud, acknowledged the need for an expedited hearing due to the assembly’s term ending in November.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!
NEW DELHI: Today(on 29th July), The Supreme Court has sought responses from Ajit Pawar and his group of 40 MLAs following a plea from the Sharad Pawar faction challenging Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar‘s decision. This decision recognized the group led by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar as the legitimate Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, along with Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, acknowledged the urgency of the situation brought forth by senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, who represents the Sharad Pawar faction.
Singhvi emphasized the need for an expedited hearing due to the limited remaining tenure of the current state assembly, which concludes in November this year.
“We will issue a notice, and any objections, including those related to maintainability, will be addressed at the time of final disposal. Parties are permitted to serve the other respondents with ‘dasti’ (personal service of notices).”
– the Chief Justice stated.
ALSO READ: Supreme Court: ‘NCP-Sharadchandra Pawar’ Name Allowed for Sharad Pawar Faction Until Further Notice
The bench agreed to schedule the hearing for the plea filed by lawmakers Jayant Patil and Jitendra Awhad from the Sharad Pawar faction, immediately following the hearing of a related petition from the rival Uddhav Thackeray camp. The Thackeray group is contesting a similar decision by the speaker, which favored Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his group of MLAs.
On February 15, Speaker Rahul Narwekar determined that the NCP faction led by Ajit Pawar, who had rebelled against his uncle Sharad Pawar and allied with the BJP-Shiv Sena government, was the true Nationalist Congress Party. This decision dismissed the disqualification petitions filed by both rival factions against each other’s MLAs.
Narwekar noted that the anti-defection law provisions in the Constitution’s tenth schedule could not be used to suppress internal dissent within a party. He highlighted that the Ajit Pawar faction held an “overwhelming legislative majority” with 41 out of 53 MLAs at the time of the NCP’s split in July 2023.
