News By R Rajgopal
Maharashtra disqualification case: Supreme Court Said: “We are concerned about the dignity of this court. Our orders must be complied with,” the bench said, adding the Speaker must decide the disqualification petitions before the Assembly election next year.
Maharashtra disqualification case: The apex court will hear the case next Monday. The bench said if it is not satisfied with the timeline of the speaker then it would direct him to take the decision within two months.
New Delhi, 13 Oct (City Times): (SC pulls up Assembly Speaker): The Supreme Court has deplored the act of Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar for the delay in adjudication of disqualification petitions against Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde and MLAs supporting him.
Court fixes timeline to expedite the process
The court has fixed a timeline to expediting the process by the Assembly Speaker.”“We are concerned about the dignity of this court. Our orders must be complied with,” the bench said, adding the Speaker must decide the disqualification petitions before the Assembly election next year.
Assembly Speaker to take the decision within two months
The apex court will hear the case next Monday. The bench said if it is not satisfied with the timeline of the Speaker then it would direct him to take the decision within two months.
Writ of court to run in tune with Constitution of India
“The writ of this court has to run in tune with the Constitution of India,” the bench said.
On September 18, the SC had directed the Maharashtra Assembly Speaker to spell out the timeline for adjudication of the disqualification petitions against Shinde and other MLAs.
Both Sena factions file disqualification petitions
The Sena factions had filed disqualification pleas against each other last year after Shinde and 39 MLAs broke away from the parent party and sided with the BJP to form the government.
In July, the Speaker had issued notices to 40 MLAs of the Shinde faction and 14 of the Thackeray faction, seeking their replies on disqualification petitions against them. The notices were issued against a total of 54 MLAs.
Sunil Prabhu from the Thackeray faction, in his capacity as chief whip of the undivided Shiv Sena, had filed the disqualification petitions against Shinde and 15 other MLAs last year.
SC rules Shinde will continue as CM of Maharashtra
On May 11 this year, the apex court ruled that Shinde will continue to be the CM of Maharashtra, stating it cannot reinstate the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition government headed by Thackeray as the latter chose to resign without facing a floor test.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) has been accusing Narwekar of deliberately delaying in arriving at a decision on the disqualification pleas.
On September 21, Narwekar said he would not delay the decision on the disqualification pleas, but wouldn’t rush into it either as it may result in miscarriage of justice.
