'Disqualification petitions hearing against CM Shinde, other MLAs to start soon'

Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar on Friday said he has received a copy of the Shiv Senas constitution from the Election Commission of India and hearing on the disqualification petitions against 16 Shiv Sena MLAs including Chief Minister Eknath Shinde will start soonNarwekar had sought a copy of the Senas constitution from the ECI His office received it last week he told PTINow we will start the hearing he saidWhen asked when exactly the process will start Narwekar replied SoonEarlier this week the Shiv Sena UBT approached the Supreme Court seeking a direction to the Assembly Speaker to hear the disqualification petitions expeditiouslyMLA Sunil Prabhu had in his capacity as chief whip of the undivided Shiv Sena filed the disqualification petitions against Shinde and other 15 MLAs last year after they rebelled and joined hands with the BJP to form a new government in June 2022Prabhu on behalf of the Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray moved the apex court this month claiming that Narwekar was deliberately delaying the hearing despite the Supreme Court in its May 11 judgement asking the Speaker to decide on the petitions in reasonable timeOn May 11 the top court ruled that Eknath Shinde will continue to be the chief minister of Maharashtra It cannot reinstate the Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition government headed by Uddhav Thackeray as the Sena leader chose to resign without facing a floor test in the wake of Shindes rebellion the court saidThe SC also censured former Maharashtra governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari over his decision calling upon Thackeray to prove his majorityRefusing to disqualify the 16 rebel Shiv Sena MLAs including Shinde the bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud said the court cannot ordinarily adjudicate on disqualification petitions under the antidefection law and directed the Speaker to take a decision on the pending matter within a reasonable periodEven as the hearing on disqualification issue is pending the state politics got another twist last week when an NCP faction led by Ajit Pawar joined the state government with Pawar becoming a deputy CMThe monsoon session of the state legislature would start from July 17This 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