Bombay HC issues notice to Maharashtra speaker on Ajit Pawar faction plea

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday issued a notice to Maharashtra assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar and 10 MLAs belonging to Sharad Pawars NCP faction on petitions challenging the speakers decision to not disqualify them reported news agency PTIAnil Patil chief whip of the Nationalist Congress Party NCP led by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar had filed two petitions challenging the speakers decision to not disqualify 10 MLAs from the Sharad Pawar camp reported PTIA division bench of Justices G S Kulkarni and Firdosh Pooniwalla on Wednesday also issued notice to the Maharashtra legislature secretariat and directed all the respondents to file their affidavits to the petitionsNCP disqualification matter Hearing on March 14The Bombay High Court posted the matter for further hearing on March 14 reported PTIPatil in his petitions requested the high court to quash the speakers recent order by declaring it bad in law and also disqualify all the 10 legislators reported PTIThe petitions challenged the legality propriety and correctness of the order passed by Narwekar dismissing the disqualification petitions filed against the MLAs belonging to the Sharad Pawar factionPatils counsel Mukul Rohatgi on Wednesday told the court that the major findings made by the speaker were in Ajit Pawars favour except the part where the 10 MLAs were not disqualified reported PTIThe speaker has ruled that the Ajit Pawarled NCP is the real political party Even the Election Commission had ruled in Ajit Pawars favour But still the 10 MLAs from Sharad Pawars faction were not disqualified Rohatgi said reported PTINCP disqualification matter This is not just a case of internal disputeThe actions of the 10 MLAs were against the interests of the party and hence they ought to have been disqualified the senior counsel arguedThe speaker has wrongly held that this was a case of internal strife within the party But that is not our case This is not just a case of internal dispute Rohatgi said reported PTIThe bench after hearing the arguments briefly said it would issue notices to the respondents and direct them to file affidavits and hear the matter further reported PTINarwekar last week held that the faction led by Ajit Pawar is the real NCP but didnt disqualify MLAs of either factionPatil in his petitions claimed the speaker has wrongly arrived at the conclusion that the split in the NCP was intraparty dissentAs the speaker has ruled that the NCP led by Ajit Pawar is the real political party then the disqualification petitions should have been allowed too he saidNCP disqualification matter A turf warAjit Pawar and his uncle Sharad Pawar are locked in a turf war after Ajit and eight MLAs joined the Shiv Senaled Maharashtra government in July 2023Both the factions were fighting over primarily two issues to whom the party belongs and whether MLAs from the opposite faction attract disqualification under Section 21A of the Tenth ScheduleThe Election Commission on February 7 decided the dispute in favour of Ajit Pawar recognising the faction led by him as the real NCP and also allotted it the partys clock symbolThe EC later granted the name Nationalist Congress PartySharadchandra Pawar for the group led by Sharad PawarOn February 15 Narwekar held that the NCP faction led by Ajit Pawar was the real NCP and that the antidefection provisions in the Constitution cannot be used to stifle internal dissentThe Supreme Court on Monday directed that the ECs order of granting the name Nationalist Congress PartySharadchandra Pawar for the group led by Sharad Pawar will continue till further ordersWith inputs from PTI