Maharashtra crisis | SC to hear Shinde camp's plea on disqualification notice against 16 Sena rebels today
India Today
The deputy speaker issued notices to 16 MLAs of the rebel faction to initiate action of disqualification against them and asked them to respond by June 27. The Shinde camp moved to the SC seeking a stay on notice.
Amid the ongoing political crisis in Maharashtra, the Shinde camp has approached the Supreme Court over the deputy speaker’s disqualification notice to 16 MLAs. Two petitions have been filed challenging the disqualification notice issued by the deputy speaker and the appointment of Ajay Chaudhary as leader of the legislative party. The SC vacation bench and the registrar are likely to hear the Shinde camp’s pleas at 10.30 am today.
A vacation bench of Justices Surya Kant and J B Pardiwala is likely to hear Shinde's plea seeking directions to the deputy speaker to not take any action in the disqualification petition against him.
Shinde and a sizable number of MLAs rebelled against the leadership of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on June 21 and are currently in Guwahati in Assam.
Their main demand is that the Sena withdraws from the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance, which also comprises the Congress and NCP. The plea filed through advocate Abhinay Sharma said the deputy speaker cannot disqualify any member under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution during the pendency of his own removal resolution and termed his action in recognising Ajay Choudhary and Sunil Prabhu as Leader and Chief Whip of SSLP as illegal.
In their petition filed in the top court, the rebel leaders have also challenged the appointment of Ajay Choudhari as the Shiv Sena Legislature Party leader. Sena named Choudhari to the post after removing Shinde a day after the latter left Mumbai with a sizable number of loyal MLAs, leaving the Maha Vikas Aghadi government teetering.
"The illegal and unconstitutional action of the Deputy Speaker insofar as recognising Ajay Choudhury as the leader of the Shiv Sena Legislature Party (SSLP) despite the said request being admittedly made by a minority faction of the SSLP. Further, the said Respondent No. 1 (Deputy Speaker), even after belonging to the minority faction of the SSLP, has also filed a Petition under Rule 6 of MLA Defection Rules seeking disqualification of the Petitioner under Para-2(1)(a) of the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution of India for which the Petitioner received a notice dated June 2, 2022," the plea said.
