In Sena vs Sena Ruling, Did Speaker Contradict Top Court, Asks Chief Justice
NDTV
On January 10, the Maharashtra Speaker ruled in favour of Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena faction, calling it the "real" party and holding, therefore, that its MLAs could not be disqualified by petitions from Uddhav Thackeray's side.
The Supreme Court on Thursday questioned the Maharashtra Speaker's ruling on the Sena vs Sena dispute - in which the faction led by Eknath Shinde was declared the "real Sena" based on its "discernible legislative majority" - and asked if the conclusion was contrary to its instructions.
A bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud made the oral observation as it heard pleas from the Uddhav Thackeray-led faction (or what was the united Shiv Sena) challenging Speaker Rahul Narwekar's decision to not disqualify the MLAs - including Mr Shinde - who had switched to the BJP.
The court ordered the Speaker's office to submit all original records pertaining to disqualification pleas filed by Mr Thackeray's camp, and asked Mr Shinde's camp to file a reply by April 1.
