Disqualification petitions: Speaker bats for ‘natural course of justice’

Mumbai: On Monday speaker of the state assembly Rahul Narwekar proceeded to hear the disqualification petitions of Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena following Supreme Court’s directive last week. While the Thackeray faction demanded quick decision on its petition for disqualification of chief minister Eknath Shinde and his MLAs, urging that the speaker club the petitions (of both groups) in a single hearing, Narwekar indicated that he “will stick to the principle of natural justice” and will not wind up the hearings quickly.

The schedule for the hearing will be declared on Tuesday, in keeping with the apex court’s order, while the next hearing of the petitions will be on October 13, when he said he will consider Sena (UBT)’s demand.

Sena (UBT) had petitioned for the disqualification soon after Shinde had defected from the party along with 40 MLAs in June 2022, while the Shinde camp had petitioned to the speaker for the disqualification of Sena (UBT) during the speaker’s election when UBT had fielded its candidate Rajan Salvi against Narwekar.

Last week Narwekar had issued notices to all 53 MLAs of both factions to be present for the hearing. On Monday, the Thackeray faction pointed out that the disqualification was sought on the basis of incidents such as Shinde taking oath and his MLAs voting a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) nominee in the speaker’s position.

Devdutta Kamath, the counsel for the Thackeray camp, said, “Soon after the split, the rebel leaders did not heed Uddhav Thackeray’s notice to return from Surat and convene for a meeting. Sitting in a BJP ruled state, Shinde had declared that he was the leader of party. He took oath as the CM on June 30, 2022, along with his supporters, violating the whip issued by Sunil Prabhu and voted for BJP candidate Rahul Narwekar for the speaker’s post. All these facts prove that all of them indulged in anti-party activities. Therefore, Shinde and his supporter MLAs are liable for the disqualification.”

This was rebutted by Shinde camp counsel Anil Sakhare, who insisted that all the petitions made by the party be heard separately, “and should not be merged”.

Following this, Narwekar decided that he will reveal the schedule of the hearing on Tuesday. His remark about the “natural course of justice” has led to speculations that the verdict will be further delayed. Thackeray faction MP Anil Desai alleged this “was an unnecessary delay as all the facts and proofs were already submitted”. MLC Anil Parab added that “this was a deliberate ploy by the Shinde camp to delay the decision”.

Thackeray faction MLAs including chief whip Sunil Prabhu, group leader Ajay Chaudhary, Prakash Phatarpekar, Ramesh Korgaonkar, Sunil Raut along with opposition leader in council Ambadas Danve, MLC Anil Parab and MP Anil Desai were present for hearing along with their counsel Devdatta Kamat and Asim Sarode. On behalf of the CM Shinde-led Shiv Sena, senior counsel Anil Sakhare and his team was present.

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HL:

CM postpones UK-Germany visit

MUMBAI

With the speaker Rahul Narwekar hearing petitions of disqualification against him and his MLAs, chief minister Eknath Shinde has decided to postpone his tour of United Kingdom and Germany. Shinde’s trip from UK to Germany was scheduled from October 1.

He has asked his office to halt all preparations for the trip, which was planned to seek investment and conduct roadshows. On the other hand, Shinde also wanted to be present at the time the MoU between the state cultural affairs minister Sudhir Mungantiwar and Victoria and Albert Museum was to be signed to get the tiger claws back, which was used by Maratha King Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj to kill Afzal Khan at foothills of Pratapgad, in Satara.

Yogesh Naik