'Real' Shiv Sena claim: SC to hear on Sept 27 plea of Uddhav Thackeray faction

A fivejudge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court on Wednesday said it will hear on September 27 an application of Uddhav Thackerayled faction seeking to restrain the Election Commission from deciding on the claim of Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shindeled group over the original Shiv Sena partyThe bench headed by Justice DY Chandrachud said it will pass directions indicating the timeline for hearing all other issues emanating from a batch of petitions filed by both the sides related to power of speakerdeputy speaker and governor in relation to the political crisis which had happened in Maharashtra few months backThe bench was hearing pending cases related to the crisis that led to the fall of the Maha Vikas Aghadi MVA government in the stateAs the matter was taken up for hearing senior advocate Neeraj Kishan Kaul appearing for the Shinde faction told the bench also comprising Justices MR Shah Krishna Murari Hima Kohli and PS Narasimha that the opposite side has filed an intervention application in their matter seeking to restrain the poll panel from taking any decisionHe said the Election Commission of India ECI cannot be prevented from taking any decision and earlier the top court had refused to stay the proceeding before the poll panelSenior advocate Kapil Sibal appearing for the Uddhav Thackeray faction said on August 3 a top court bench had orally asked the ECI to not take any precipitative actionSenior advocate Arvind Datar appearing for the ECI said it is a process that when there is a complaint under symbols order the poll panel has no option but to issue notice to the other sideAlso Read Maharashtra Hardcore Shiv Sainiks will fight back from current situation says Uddhav ThackerayHere in this case also we have issued the notice to the other side he said adding that the records are bulky and it would be appropriate if the proceedings continueDatar said even if the legislators are disqualified they will still remain members of the partySibal said disqualification is attracted under the 10th schedule if the legislator voluntarily gives up the membership of the party and not the legislatureJustice Shah asked the counsel to reserve their energy for hearing on September 27On August 23 the top court had referred to a fivejudge bench the petitions filed by the Uddhav Thackerayled faction and Eknath Shindeled faction raising several constitutional questions related to defection merger and disqualificationIt had asked the ECI not to pass any orders on the Shinde factions plea that it be considered the real Shiv Sena party and granted the partys poll symbolA bench headed by the then Chief Justice N V Ramana had said that the batch of petitions raise important constitutional issues relating to the 10th schedule of the Constitution pertaining to disqualification power of the speaker and governor and judicial reviewThe apex court had said the proposition of law laid down by the constitution bench in the Nabam Rebia case relating to 10th schedule stands on a contradictory reasoning which requires gap filling to uphold constitutional moralityThe top court had asked the constitution bench to look into constitutional issues whether notice for removal of speaker restricts him from continuing with disqualification proceedings whether a petition under Article 32 or 226 lies against disqualification proceedings can a court hold that member is deemed to be disqualified by virtue of hisher actions what is the status of proceedings in the house pending disqualification petitions against the membersThe 10th Schedule of the Constitution provides for the prevention of defection of the elected and nominated members from their political parties and contains stringent provisions against defectionsThe Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena had earlier submitted that party MLAs loyal to Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde can save themselves from disqualification under the 10th Schedule of the Constitution only by merging with another political partyIt had asked the Shinde faction to redraft the legal issues of split merger defection and disqualification raised in petitions filed by the Thackeray camp that are to be adjudicated upon following the political crisis in MaharashtraThe Shinde group had said the antidefection law is not a weapon for a leader who has lost the confidence of his own party to lock his members and somehow hang onThis 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