Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) President Sharad Pawar requested the Supreme Court's intervention on Friday, seeking directives for Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar to decide on the disqualification petitions of Shiv Sena and NCP MLAs within a specific timeframe. Pawar expressed concern over the delay on the part of the speaker in reaching a decision on these pleas, which prompted the NCP to approach the apex court, stated a PTI report. 

According to the report, the top court, taking a stern stance, criticised the assembly speaker for the prolonged delay in deciding on the disqualification plea of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and several MLAs. The apex court said that the speaker "cannot defy" the orders of the top court. A bench, presided over by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, stressed that the decision on disqualification pleas must be made before the next assembly elections to prevent the entire process from becoming ineffective.