Shiv Sena row: Eknath Shinde’s faction moves Bombay HC over Speaker’s verdict | Here’s why

Earlier in the day, the Uddhav Thackeray faction moved the Supreme Court challenging Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar’s order declaring the Sena bloc led by Eknath Shinde as the “real political party” after its split in June 2022.

Both Shiv Sena factions had sought disqualification of each other’s MLAs under anti-defection laws after the party split in 2022. Uddhav Thackeray faction’s petition had sought disqualification 16 MLAs of the ruling group, including Shinde. Meanwhile, Shinde had sought disqualification 14 MLAs of the Uddhav Thackeray faction, news agency PTI reported.

However, Speaker Rahul Narwekar, in his verdict on January 10, rejected the disqualification petitions filed by both Uddhav Thackeray’s and Eknath Shinde’s camp. 

Why Shinde camp objects to Speaker’s verdict?

Petitions filed on January 12 by Bharat Gogavale, the chief whip of the ruling Shiv Sena, said they were challenging the “legality, propriety and correctness” of the January 10 order passed by Speaker Rahul Narwekar, dismissing the disqualification petitions submitted by him against the rival camp Assembly members.

According to PTI, Gogavale maintained in the petitions that the Thackeray group MLAs not only violated the whip but also voluntarily gave up the membership of the Shiv Sena political party by their acts and omissions following a split in June 2022.

The pleas claimed the Speaker had failed to consider that along with giving up the membership, the (Sena-UBT) members also voted against the Shiv Sena-led government in cahoots with the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), thereby seeking to topple the ruling dispensation.

As per the high court’s website, Gogavale’s petitions would be taken up for hearing on January 22

What Maharashtra Speaker had said on disqualification?

The Speaker had said last week, “All the petitions seeking disqualifications are rejected and no one is disqualified from any faction of Shiv Sena.” He added, “the decision of Paksha Pramukh cannot be taken as the decision of the political party” and “Shinde faction was real Shiv Sena when rival factions emerged” in June 2022.

Following the verdict, Narwekar spoke in an exclusive interview with NDTV on why MLAs from the Thackeray camp were not disqualified. He told the daily that although Bharat Gogawale was named as whip, he expressed uncertainty regarding the proper service of the whip to attend the party meeting for Thackeray faction MLAs.

“It appears that this service is not complete. There was no evidence to show this whip was properly served upon the MLAs belonging to the Thackeray faction. Since this filter was not cleared, it was not appropriate for me, under the principles of natural justice, to hold them disqualified,” Narwekar said as quoted by NDTV.

The Supreme Court had in December 2023 asked Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar to deliver his judgment on disqualification petitions filed by Shiv Sena factions of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Uddhav Thackeray by January 10.

‘Real Shiv Sena’

In a major setback to the Udhhav Thackeray camp (Shiv Sena-UBT), Narwekar had also held that the Eknath Shinde-led faction of the Shiv Sena was the “real political party” when rival groups emerged on June 21, 2022. He said the constitution of Shiv Sena provided by the Election Commission of India is the relevant constitution of Shiv Sena for the determination of which faction is the real political party.

Reading out his ruling on disqualification petitions filed by Shinde-led Sena and the rival faction led by Uddhav Thackeray against each other’s MLAs, Narwekar also said that Sunil Prabhu of the Sena (UBT) ceased to be the whip from June 21, 2022, and Bharat Gogawale of the Shinde group became the authorised whip.

“In my view, the 2018 leadership structure (submitted with ECI) was not as per the Shiv Sena Constitution. Shiv Sena party chief as per the party Constitution cannot remove anyone from the party…Uddhav Thackeray removed Eknath Shinde or any party leader from the party as per the party Constitution. So the removal of Eknath Shinde by Uddhav Thackeray in June 2022 is not accepted based on the Shiv Sena Constitution,” the Speaker said.

Milestone Alert!
Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world 🌏 Click here to know more.

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed – it’s all here, just a click away! Login Now!

Published: 15 Jan 2024, 05:32 PM IST