Expressing dissatisfaction with the schedule given by the Speaker, the top court had said, "The time schedule as proposed will not result in a foreseeable conclusion of the disqualification petitions at a reasonably early date."
Digital Desk: The Supreme Court is set to hear pleas on October 30 from the Sharad Pawar bloc of the NCP and the Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena. The parties are requesting that the speaker of the Maharashtra parliament be instructed to rule on disqualification petitions against specific MLAs as soon as possible.
Two distinct pleas filed by both groups are slated to be heard by a bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud. The Supreme Court will reconvene following a week-long break for the Dussehra holiday. The top court gave assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar till October 17 to provide it with a reasonable timeline for resolving the cross-petitions that opposing Shiv Sena factions filed to have each other's MLAs disqualified as a result of the party's split.
"The narration of facts indicates that the first batch of petitions has been pending since June and July 2022. The judgment of the Constitution Bench was delivered on May 11, 2023. The disqualification petitions have to be adjudicated upon all expeditions. Otherwise very purpose of the tenth schedule shall stand defeated," the bench had said in its order.
Expressing dissatisfaction with the schedule given by the Speaker, the top court had said, "The time schedule as proposed will not result in a foreseeable conclusion of the disqualification petitions at a reasonably early date."
It had mentioned in its judgement that Solicitor General Tushar Mehta would personally meet with the Speaker over the Dussehra break in order to provide a concrete plan of action for ensuring that the hearing on the disqualification petitions concludes as soon as possible.
"Before this court issues peremptory directions for compliance with a time schedule for disposal, we grant a final opportunity to prescribe a realistic time schedule for the disposal of the disqualification petitions, particularly, in view of the assurance which has been given to the court by the Solicitor General," the top court had said.
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and some of his loyal MLAs had filed appeals seeking their disqualification, and the Supreme Court had already taken a harsh line against the speaker for taking too long to rule on them.
The court stated that the speaker was powerless to override the instructions of the highest court. Legislators who have shown loyalty to Thackeray have also been the target of similar disqualification petitions from the Shinde faction.
Shinde and Shiv Sena MLAs who had pledged allegiance to him and teamed up with the BJP to form a new government in June 2022 were the targets of disqualification petitions. The bench had earlier on September 18 ordered the speaker to outline the timeline for their adjudication.
The solicitor general was requested by the court to inform the bench of the timetable that the speaker would set for resolving the pleas presented by 56 MLAs, including lawmakers from the Shinde faction, seeking their disqualification.
In July, the Thackeray faction petitioned the Supreme Court, requesting that the state assembly speaker be instructed to decide the disqualification petitions quickly and within a set time frame. In his plea, Sunil Prabhu, an MLA for Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), claimed that Speaker Rahul Narwekar is purposefully postponing the decision in spite of the ruling of the highest court. Prabhu filed the disqualification petitions against Shinde and other MLAs in 2022 as the chief whip of the undivided Shiv Sena.
Later, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) side led by Sharad Pawar filed a second appeal, requesting that the assembly speaker rule quickly on the disqualification petitions against Ajit Pawar, the deputy chief minister, and party legislators who support him.
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