Maha: After SC ruling, ball is in Speaker's court, say legal experts

With the Supreme Court on Thursday ruling that it cannot restore Uddhav Thackeray as Maharashtra chief minister legal experts said the ball was now in the court of the Speaker of the Maharashtra AssemblyThey also pointed out that the Supreme Court did not specify any timeframe for the Speaker to take a decision on the disqualification of 16 MLAs belonging to Chief Minister Eknath Shindes factionJustice S C Dharmadhikari a retired judge of the Bombay High Court said the issue was purely a political battle and it should not have been taken to the court in the first placeThe decision on disqualification lies with the Speaker but the Supreme Court has not specified any time period within which the decision must be taken he told PTIThe Shindeled government which includes defectors will continue Justice Dharmadhikari saidThis political developments of JuneJuly 2022 is a blot on Maharashtra The states political future is bleak and polluted Political morality took a beating Maharashtra has had a history of clean and nonpolluted politics The Supreme Courts verdict will have panIndia repercussions he saidYou MLAs of the Shindes faction of the Shiv Sena walk out of the original party Go to Goa and Guwahati and then merge with join hands with another political party This is clearly an act of defection Justice Dharmadhikari addedAlso readBJPs powerhungry attitude has killed democracy in the country Maha Congress reacts to SC verdict on ShindeBJP govtSenior counsel Milind Sathe too echoed the view that all eyes will now be on Speaker Rahul NarwekarThe Supreme Court has already held that the whip of the original Shiv Sena party was valid and legal So now the Speaker must decide on the disqualification issue on merits he told PTIThackeray should not have resigned following Shindes rebellion the senior lawyer further saidAdvocate Ujjwal Nikam said the Supreme Court has made certain important observations regarding a whip and how the then Maharashtra governors decision was incorrectThe ball now lies in the court of the Speaker regarding the disqualification notices issued to the 16 MLAs He will have to hear the matter and decide on merit he saidThe apex court on Thursday held that Shinde will continue as chief minister as it cannot restore the then Maha Vikas Aghadi MVA government led by Uddhav Thackeray as he resigned without facing a floor testThe court however pulled up former Maharashtra governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari and said he did not have reasons based on objective material before him to arrive at the conclusion that Thackeray had lost the confidence of the HouseThe fivejudge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud also held that the then Speakers decision to appoint Bharat Gogawale of the Shinde faction as the whip of the Shiv Sena in the Maharashtra Assembly was contrary to lawThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever