The Supreme Court on Friday came down hard on the Maharashtra assembly speaker for the delay in deciding the plea for disqualification of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and several MLAs, saying the speaker "cannot defeat the orders" of the top court.

"Somebody has to advise the Speaker that he cannot defeat the orders of the Supreme Court," a bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud said and asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to apprise the court about the timeline for deciding the issue.