Maharashtra: Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders meet deputy Speaker, demand disqualification of 16 MLAs

A delegation of Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) on Monday reached Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha and handed over a letter seeking expedited action in the disqualification of 16 MLAs of the Shinde camp following the Supreme Court's recent verdict during their meeting with Maharashtra's deputy Speaker Narhari Zirwal and Assembly secretary Jitendra Bhole.

Party MLAs including Anil Parab, Sunil Prabhu, Sunil Raut, Sachin Ahir, and Manisha Kayende were present during the meeting which lasted for around an hour.

After the meeting, Shiv Sena (UBT) MLC Sachin Ahir said that the letter was submitted to the deputy speaker in the absence of the speaker.

After an hour's meeting, Sachin Ahir said that in the absence of the Speaker, he has handed over the letter and a copy of the Supreme Court's order to the Deputy Speaker of the Vidhan Bhavan and raised the demand to take a decision as soon as possible.

"We have given a copy of the Supreme Court's decision, and whatever the court has said, along with our application to the Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly. We have requested him to give a quick decision on what has been said by the court," Ahir told the reporters.

He added, "We request that the decision should be given within a day or 15 days. The Supreme Court has said that the decision should be taken by the Speaker of the House, it is mandatory and we will work accordingly".

This comes after, a Constitution Bench, headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud in its judgement said the Governor is not entitled to enter the political arena and play a role in intra-party to inter-party disputes, and he cannot act on the basis that some members want to leave the Shiv Sena.

The bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justices MR Shah, Justice Krishna Murari, Justice Hima Kohli and PS Narasimha also said that former Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari was "not justified" to call for a floor test based on the request of Eknath Shinde faction since he did not have enough objective material before him to conclude that the then Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had lost the confidence of the House.

The bench further said it cannot disqualify the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government and reinstate Uddhav Thackeray as Chief Minster because the latter had chosen to resign instead of facing a test of strength in the Assembly.

The Whip has to be appointed by a political party, the top court said. The apex court held that the Speaker's decision to appoint Bharat Gogawale (Eknath Shinde) as the whip of the Shiv Sena party was illegal.

The political party and not the legislature party appoints the Whip and the Leader of the party in the House. Further, the direction to vote in a particular manner or to abstain from voting is issued by the political party and not the legislature party. The decision of the Speaker as communicated by the Deputy Secretary to the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly dated July 3, 2022, is contrary to law.

The Speaker shall recognise the Whip and the Leader who are duly authorised by the Shiv Sena political party with reference to the provisions of the party constitution, after conducting an enquiry in this regard and in keeping with the principles discussed in this judgement," it held.

The apex court further said that the Speaker must decide on disqualification petitions within a reasonable time.

In August last year, the top court's three-judge bench had referred to a five-judge Constitution bench the issues involved in the petition filed by rival groups of Shiv Sena in relation to the Maharashtra political crisis.

On June 29, 2022, the top court gave a go-ahead to the floor test in the Maharashtra Assembly on June 30. It had refused to stay the Maharashtra Governor's direction to the then Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to prove his majority support on the floor of the House on June 30.

After the apex court's order, Uddhav Thackeray announced his resignation as the Chief Minister and Eknath Shinde was later sworn in as the Chief Minister.