Set timeline to decide on petitions against Shinde camp: SC to speaker

The Supreme Court on Monday fast-tracked the adjudication of the disqualification petitions against Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde and the MLAs who backed him during the rebellion against Uddhav Thackeray in June last year, directing assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar to start hearing the petitions within a week and set down a time schedule for deciding them.

- Utkarsh Anand

 

Telling Narwekar that he must “abide by the dignity of the Supreme Court” and follow its May order on deciding the disqualification petitions within a reasonable time, a bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud ordered that he would issue procedural directions in the matter within a week and will further lay down a fixed timeline to complete the proceedings.

“While this court is cognisant of the need of comity with Speaker, we also expect deference and dignity to the directions issued by this court in exercise of its constitutional power,” the bench, which also included justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, noted in its order, recording its displeasure against the sluggish pace of adjudication of the bunch of disqualification petitions. While 39 petitions have been filed by the Thackeray faction against Shinde and the MLAs supporting him under the anti-defection law, more than a dozen disqualification petitions remain pending against the MLAs of the Thackeray group too.

It asked solicitor general (SG) Tushar Mehta, who represented Narwekar – a BJP leader -- to inform the court after two weeks about the stage of the adjudication as well as the timeline to dispose of all 56 disqualification petitions.

“It appears nothing has happened after our judgment in May. He has to decide the matter...Speaker cannot say ‘I will hear it in due course’... He must sit down and decide these issues now. We did not set down a timeline in May and only said that he should decide it within a reasonable time... Equally the speaker has to abide by the dignity of the Supreme Court. Four months have gone by and nothing seems to have been done,” said the bench, expressing dismay.