Speaker’s decision on disqualification of CM Shinde, Sena MLAs in three months

Mumbai: Maharashtra assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar’s decision on the disqualification petition against CM Eknath Shinde and other Shiv Sena MLAs from both factions is likely to be delivered by the end of the year or early next year. Narwekar has set a detailed schedule for the proceedings, which will be submitted to the Supreme Court this week.

The apex court on September 19 had slammed the speaker, remarking that he had done nothing since its May 11 order, and could not keep dragging his feet on the hearing. It also demanded to know what action had been taken by Narwekar on the order and asked him to clarify the time he would take to decide on the disqualification petitions. Following the censure and directives, the second hearing was conducted by Narwekar on Monday, followed by his order regarding the schedule on Tuesday.

“The order will clear all ambiguities about the time frame, when the verdict is expected and whether it will be an individual or combined hearing,” said Narwekar on Tuesday. “A copy of the order will be submitted to the apex court through the solicitor general. Neither has the top court given us any direct order nor is my order amenable to judicial review.”

A state legislature official said that Narwekar’s order contained the schedule of the hearing and how it would proceed further. “The hearing will be held to determine which is the original party, and who was the original leader, whether the whip was defied as per Para 2(1)(a) of Article 10, and whether it was defied on account of confusion over the original party and leader among other things,” said the official.

Another official said that though the Shiv Sena (UBT) had demanded that the hearings be combined, with 34 separate petitions, this was not possible. “Some of the petitions have similar issues but circumstances change from person to person,” he said. “So eventually, we will have to strike a balance and make issue-wise categories to combine them. In some cases, there will be individual hearings.”

The speaker is expected to hold his next hearing on October 13, after the next SC hearing on the Shiv Sena (UBT)’s petition on Narwekar’s delay on the disqualifications.

The state legislature is also believed to be divided on whether the speaker’s decision is subject to legal scrutiny. “Some legal experts say that decisions related to Article 10 (anti-defection) are amenable to judicial review while others believe that they are not,” said another officer privy to the developments.

Shinde, along with 39 Shiv Sena MLAs, split the party in June 2022, pulled down the MVA government and formed a government with the help of the BJP. The Thackeray faction filed disqualification petitions against all 40 legislators for violating the provisions of the anti-defection law. Shinde’s faction, in turn, filed petitions against 13 MLAs from the Thackeray camp. In all, 34 petitions have been filed in this regard.