Maharashtra Speaker’s decision conflicts with SC ruling on factions

The Maharashtra Speaker's decision on the "real" Shiv Sena party is challenged by a Supreme Court judgment.

The Maharashtra Speaker discerned from the “legislative majority” held by the faction led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde that they were the “real” Shiv Sena.

However, a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court, deciding the Shinde versus Uddhav Thackeray dispute, had directed in a May 2023 judgment that the “Speaker must not base their decision as to which group constitutes the political party on a blind appreciation of which group possesses a majority in the Legislative Assembly”.

A summary of the Speaker’s decision shared with the media said “which faction is the real political party is discernible from the legislative majority which existed when the rival factions emerged”.

It went on to say that the “Shinde faction had an overwhelming majority of 37 out of 55 MLAs when the rival factions emerged. The Shinde faction was the ‘real Shiv Sena Political Party’ when the rival factions emerged on June 21 2022”.

The Constitution Bench led by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud had said the Speaker would have first to find out which faction was the real party to decide the question of ‘split’.

The court had said that deciding which camp represented the real Shiv Sena was more than about numbers.

“This is not a game of numbers, but of something more. The structure of leadership outside the legislative assembly is a consideration which is relevant to the determination of this issue,” the Constitution Bench had pointed out.