SC to hear on July 11 fresh plea against appointment of Eknath Shinde as Maha CM

Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear a fresh plea of the Uddhav Thackeray led faction challenging appointment of Eknath Shinde as chief minister of Maharashtra on July 11

A vacation bench of Justices Indira Banerjee and JK Maheshwari said it will be listed before an appropriate bench on July 11.

Senior advocate Devadatt Kamat, appearing for Shiv Sena leader Subhash Desai, said they are seeking listing of the fresh plea along with other pending petitions which are coming up for hearing on July 11.

Desai has challenged the Governor's June 30 decision to invite a coalition of the Shinde faction and the BJP to form government in Maharashtra.

Also read: Maharashtra political crisis: Shiv Sena battle spills over to local polls

The Thackeray led faction has also challenged the validity of assembly proceedings held on July 3 and July 4 in which a new speaker of the House was elected and subsequent proceedings of floor test in which the Shinde led coalition had proved its majority.

Earlier also several petitions have been filed by the Thackeray led faction on various issues related to the Maharashtra political crisis, which are coming up for hearing on July 11.

In a setback to the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena group, 66 out of the 67 former party corporators of the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) extended support to the faction led by Eknath Shinde on Thursday.

The term of the 131-member TMC, which has been a stronghold of the Shiv Sena, ended sometime back and its elections are due.

(With inputs from PTI, ANI)