Maharashtra assembly speaker to hold next hearing on disqualification pleas of Shiv Sena factions on Oct 12

Mumbai: Maharashtra legislative assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar on Wednesday said he has rescheduled the next hearing on the disqualification petitions filed against each other by two rival Shiv Sena factions to an earlier date, and it will now be held on Thursday instead of Friday.

Narwekar last month began hearing the disqualification petitions filed by the two rival Sena factions led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his predecessor Uddhav Thackeray. The first hearing was held on September 14.

Talking to reporters here, the assembly speaker said, "The (next) hearing on the disqualification pleas was scheduled to take place on Friday. But since I have to attend the G20 Parliamentary Speakers' Summit (P20) in Delhi on that day, I have advanced the schedule of the hearing. It will now be held on Thursday instead of Friday." "I could have fixed a later date for the hearing, but I did not because I did not want to delay the hearing any further. I want to take a decision at the earliest over the matter," he said.

In July, the speaker had issued notices to 40 MLAs of the Shinde-led Sena and 14 of the Thackeray faction, seeking their replies on disqualification petitions against them.

The notices were issued against a total of 54 MLAs, including CM Shinde and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray. But notice was not issued against Sena (UBT) MLA Rutuja Latke who was elected after the Shiv Sena split last year.

Sunil Prabhu, belonging to the Thackeray faction, had, in his capacity as chief whip of the undivided Shiv Sena, had filed the disqualification petitions against Shinde and 15 other MLAs last year after they rebelled and joined hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to form a government in June 2022.

On May 11 this year, the Supreme Court ruled that Shinde will continue to be the chief minister of Maharashtra. It also said that it cannot reinstate the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition government headed by Thackeray as the latter chose to resign without facing a floor test in the wake of Shinde’s rebellion.

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 of some Shiv Sena MLAs, but wouldn't rush into it either as it may result in "miscarriage of justice".