Will neither hurry nor inordinately delay hearing on disqualification petitions, says Maharashtra Speaker

Stating that he would neither hurry nor inordinately delay the process of hearing on the disqualification of the 16 Shiv Sena MLAs of the Eknath Shinde camp, Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar on May 15 assured that he would take a proper decision as soon as possible

Stating that he would neither hurry nor inordinately delay the process of hearing on the disqualification of the 16 Shiv Sena MLAs of the Eknath Shinde camp, Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar on May 15 assured that he would take a proper decision as soon as possible based on the constitutional principles and by respecting the guidelines of the recent Supreme Court judgment in the case of the rival Sena factions.

Mr. Narwekar, who returned from a U.K. visit in the evening, said he would not take a decision based on anyone’s demand even as a delegation of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) party submitted a memorandum to his office urging the Speaker to adjudicate on the petition within 15 days.

“There is a cardinal justice in jurisprudence that justice hurried is justice buried, and that justice delayed is justice denied,” Mr. Narwekar said. He added: “We will try to take decision on disqualification petitions as soon as possible.”

The Speaker stressed that it was a “lengthy process” and that questions such as who represented the political party [at the time of Eknath Shinde’s revolt] and who was the authorised whip at the time would have to be considered.

“Rest assured, all decisions will be taken based on law, constitutional principles and respecting the guidelines laid down in the SC’s judgment. A number of procedural aspects have to be completed. As to what constitutes a ‘reasonable time period’, we have to take a retrospective decision in this case. So, I cannot say what will be the reasonable time period. It could be 15 days, it could be more than that…I am not concerned about what someone demands outside the Assembly or claims as to what the timeframe [in which to take the hearing] ought to be,” Mr. Narwekar said, when asked about the demands of the Thackeray group.

A delegation of the Shiv Sena (UBT) submitted a 79-page memorandum to Deputy Speaker Narhari Zirwal at the Vidhan Bhavan on Monday.

“We urge the Speaker to take the hearing as soon as possible and take a decision as per guidelines of the SC verdict. We have a right to demand that the decision be taken as soon as possible,” said Sena (UBT) leader Sunil Prabhu, who was the whip of the undivided Shiv Sena at the time of the crisis which eventually resulted in a split in the party after Mr. Shinde’s revolt.