The Supreme Court on Tuesday will begin hearing cases related to the political crisis in Maharashtra, including the disqualification of MLAs, the validity of the Eknath Shinde government and the powers of speaker and governor.
Previously, the SC had rejected the plea of Shiv Sena, led by Uddhav Thackeray, to hold proceedings before the Election Commission of India (ECI) over a request by CM Eknath Shinde for recognition of his faction as the real Shiv Sena and permission to use the party. ‘bow and arrow’ election symbol.
In an order that was seen as a victory for the Shinde camp, the constitutional bench of five judges, headed by Judge DY Chandrachud, said: “We determine that the proceedings before the Election Commission will not be suspended. Interim request for postponement is rejected.”
The Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA government, which came to power after the 2019 Assembly polls, collapsed on June 29 this year following an uprising against Shiv Sena’s leadership by Eknath Shinde and 39 party lawmakers. Shinde became prime minister on June 30, with BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis as his deputy.
The camp in Uddhav then filed a petition seeking to prevent the EC from ruling on the Shinde-led faction’s claim over the ‘real’ Shiv Sena and the party symbol.
The camp has also separately approached the highest court, accusing Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari of acting under the “guidance of his political masters” to recognize 39 “rebel” MLAs of the Shiv Sena by inviting Shinde to meet the Chief Minister. become.
Thackeray loyalists also disputed the decision of Maharashtra Assembly Chairman Rahul Narwekar to recognize the appointment of Shinde’s husband Bharat Gogawale as the new head whip of the Shiv Sena.
On August 23, the Supreme Court had referred petitions filed by the Thackeray and Shinde-led factions raising various constitutional questions related to apostasy, merger and disqualification to a five-judge bench.
Thackeray’s lawyers had previously argued that MLAs of parties loyal to Shinde can save themselves from disqualification under the 10th schedule of the constitution only by merging with another political party. The Shinde group said the anti-defector law is not a weapon for a leader who has lost confidence in his own party.
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