NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday directed Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar to decide the disqualification proceedings against rebel MLAs of the erstwhile Shiv Sena party by December 31.
Cross-petitions were filed by the rival factions of the Shiv Sena seeking disqualification of each other's MLAs by December 31. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Shiv Sena MLAs loyal to him had tied up with the BJP to form a new government in June 2022.
The bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud also directed the Speaker to rule on the disqualification proceedings against Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLAs by January 24 next year.
The bench also comprised Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, however, cited the upcoming Diwali holidays and the winter session of the Parliament and informed the court that the speaker required time till February 29, 2024 to decide the disqualification petitions filed by the Uddhav Thackeray and Eknath Shinde factions of the Shiv Sena.
Expressing displeasure, the apex court, said that procedural wranglings could not lead to a delay in deciding the pleas, pointing out that the top court has repeatedly granted time to the Speaker to complete the proceedings under the 10th schedule.
"We are concerned that the sanctity of the 10th Schedule must be maintained. Otherwise, we are throwing these provisions to the wind," the bench said.
The 10th Schedule of the Constitution is designed to prevent defection of elected and nominated members of Parliament and state legislatures from their political parties and contains stringent provisions against it.
The top court was hearing two petitions filed by the Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena and the Sharad Pawar bloc of the NCP, seeking a direction to the speaker to quickly decide pending disqualification proceedings against rebel MLAs.
Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the Ajit Pawar group, opposed setting a deadline for deciding the NCP petitions, saying they were filed in July and September this year.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing the Sharad Pawar bloc, said only the petitions filed against nine NCP MLAs in July this year be considered at this stage.
The bench then said in its order, "We have to give some reasonable time. We have given speaker till December for group A (Shiv Sena) and by January 31, 2024 for NCP."
Background
The delay in deciding the disqualification petitions against Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Shiv Sena MLAs loyal to him has come under strict scrutiny by the apex court.
In the previous hearing on the matter on October 13, the CJI-led bench had expressed its dissatisfaction and said that the proceedings should come to an end before the next elections.
The bench had also come down heavily on the Speaker, remarking, "Somebody has to advise the Speaker that he cannot defeat the orders of the Supreme Court."
The court had also said that the Speaker had not complied with the top court's September order to prepare a schedule to complete the disqualification proceedings against the rebel MLAs. The Speaker had been given a week to spell out a timeline to be submitted before the top court.
During the September 18 hearing, too, the top court had rapped the Speaker. “While this court is cognizant of the need for comity (civility) with the Speaker, we also expect the dignity of this court’s judgment to be maintained,” the CJI-led bench had said, asking the Speaker to apprise the court of the timeline.
The Thackeray faction had moved the apex court in July this year seeking a direction to the Speaker to quickly adjudicate the disqualification petitions in a time-bound manner.
(With PTI inputs)