Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar is expected to decide on Wednesday, the disqualification petitions filed by two warring factions of Shiv Sena, led by incumbent Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his predecessor Uddhav Thackeray.
Maharashtra had plunged into a political crisis in June 2022 after Eknath Shinde, along with some 40 MLAs, rebelled against the erstwhile Shiv Sena, leading to fall of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.
On June 30 2022, Shinde took oath as Maharashtra Chief Minister with the support of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The Shiv Sena faction led by Uddhav Thackeray moved the Bombay High Court against the rebel MLAs, against the legality of their defection. The Eknath Shinde led faction then filed a counter petition.
The matter reached the Supreme Court, which initially ordered the Maharashtra Speaker to decide on the disqualification petitions by December 31, 2023 under the tenth schedule of the Constitution.
The date was later extended to January 10.
In a related development, the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) on Tuesday filed a writ petition in the Apex Court, questioning the impartiality of Maharashtra Speaker Narwekar in deciding on the disqualification petitions filed against the members of the Eknath Shinde faction.
Filed by Shiv Sena (UBT) member Sunil Prabhu, the petition alleged that the Speaker met Chief Minister Shinde at the latter’s official residence on January 7, three days before the pronouncement of the verdict in the disqualification petitions.