Former CM should know for what purposes speaker could meet Chief Minister: Rahul Narwekar on Uddhav Thackeray's application

Rahul Narwekar. File Pic/Ashish Raje

After Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) moved to the Supreme Court on the Speaker-Chief Minister meeting, Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar slammed the former Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray and said that Thackeray should know for what purposes a speaker could meet a chief minister, reported news agency ANI.

The speaker met Shinde at 'Varsha', the chief minister's official residence in south Mumbai, on January 7.

"He, being the former CM, must know about the role of speaker. Speakers do meet CM for many works but when Uddhav Thackeray was CM, he did get the time to know about what role the speaker has in assembly. There are many purposes for which a speaker could meet a chief minister," Rahul Narwekar told reporters on Wednesday, reported ANI.

In its application, the Thackeray faction stated that the Speaker, as the adjudicating authority under the Tenth Schedule, is "required to act fairly and impartially."

It said the conduct of the Speaker must inspire confidence and justify the constitutional trust reposed in its high office.

"However, the present act of the Speaker raises questions about the fairness and impartiality of the decision-making process," Uddhav Thackeray's application stated.

"The act of the Speaker is in violation of the legal maxim and this application has been filed in view of the alarming news that the Speaker met Shinde at his official residence on January 7, three days prior to the deadline when the decision in disqualification petitions against Shinde is to be pronounced on January 10," stated Uddhav Thackeray's application, reported ANI.

The application said the meeting should be brought to notice to bring it on record and pass the order, reported ANI.

The application was filed in the petition pending before the apex court, seeking expeditious disposal of disqualification petitions against the Shinde faction.

Ahead of the crucial verdict by the assembly speaker on the cross-petitions by Shiv Sena factions seeking disqualification of each other's MLAs following a split in the party, the political temperature has risen in Maharashtra, reported ANI.

Narwekar is slated to deliver his much-awaited verdict on the disqualification pleas at 4 pm on Wednesday, reported ANI.

On December 15, 2023, the Supreme Court extended till January 10 the time for the Speaker to pronounce a verdict on disqualification petitions against MLAs, including Shinde.

Earlier, the top court had rejected the proposal of the Maharashtra Speaker that he could conclude proceedings on cross-disqualification petitions filed by Shiv Sena factions by February 29, 2024.

The CJI had pointed out that the Constitution bench judgement in the Shiv Sena case was delivered in May this year and the incidents took place in July 2022.

The apex court had expressed disapproval over the delay by the Speaker in deciding the disqualification petitions and said it had been asking the Speaker to decide on the matter for months.

The disqualification pleas have been pending since the Maharashtra political crises started. The plea sought direction for the Speaker to decide disqualification petitions within a time-bound manner.

The disqualification petitions against the rebel MLAs were filed by Sunil Prabhu, the Shiv Sena party Whip appointed by Uddhav Thackeray, on 23 June 2022, after the MLAs revolted against Thackeray. The notices of disqualification were issued by Deputy Speaker Narhari Zirwal in the absence of the Speaker.

In August 2022, the top court's three-judge bench referred to a five-judge Constitution bench for the issues involved in the petition filed by rival groups of Shiv Sena about the Maharashtra political crisis.

On June 29, 2022, the top court gave a go-ahead to the floor test in the Maharashtra Assembly on June 30. It had refused to stay the Maharashtra Governor's direction to the then Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to prove his majority support on the floor of the House on June 30.

After the apex court's order, Uddhav Thackeray announced his resignation as the Chief Minister and Eknath Shinde was later sworn in as the Chief Minister.

In July last year, the Ajit Pawar faction of the NCP also joined the Shinde-led government.

(With inputs from ANI)