Eknath Shinde camp moves SC: What are the main grounds in petition?

As the Maharashtra political crisis continues, Shiv Sena rebel MLA Eknath Shinde on Sunday (June 26) moved the Supreme Court against the disqualification notice issued by the deputy speaker of the Assembly Narhari Zirwal to him and 15 other legislators supporting him.

A vacation bench of justices Surya Kant and J B Pardiwala will hear on Monday (June 27) the plea by Shinde, who along with a sizeable number of Sena MLAs, is currently camping in Guwahati in Assam since June 22.

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The rebel group led by Shinde is demanding that Shiv Sena should withdraw from the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance, which also comprises the Congress and NCP, but Sena supremo and Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has refused to give in and the party has now asked the dissidents to quit and contest polls again.

The Maharashtra legislature secretariat on Saturday (June 25) had issued ‘summons’ to 16 rebel Shiv Sena MLAs including Shinde, seeking written replies by the evening of June 27 to the complaints seeking their disqualification.

Signed by Rajendra Bhagwat, principal secretary of the Maharashtra Vidhan Bhavan, the summons were sent to all 16 MLAs named by the Shiv Sena’s chief whip Sunil Prabhu in a letter.

Prabhu had earlier asked the rebel MLAs of the Shinde faction to attend a party meeting here on Wednesday but none of them turned up.

Subsequently, the Sena submitted two letters to the legislature secretariat, seeking disqualification of 16 MLAs including Shinde.

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The summons issued by Bhagwat on Saturday said that Prabhu had submitted a letter to deputy speaker Zirwal seeking their disqualification under The Members of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly (Disqualification on ground of Defection) Rules, 1986.

“In your defence of the summons, you need to submit your written response before 5.30 pm on June 27 (Monday) supported by all the necessary documents. If the written response to the summons is not submitted in a given period, it would be considered as you have no say over it. The office will initiate necessary action based on the complaint filed by Prabhu against you,” the letter said.

The Shinde group, which claims to have the support of more than two-thirds of Sena MLAs, has contended that Prabhu has been replaced as party whip by Bharat Gogawale.

What are the main grounds in the petition

According to an Indian Express report, Shinde has claimed that Zirwal, who is taking decisions as deputy speaker, is an MLA belonging to the NCP and ordinarily, a member having been elected as the Speaker or DS resigns from his membership of the political party, but that is not the case.

Shinde’s camp said, as Zirwal’s party is supporting a “minority faction” of the Shiv Sena, his actions are “biased, based on malafide and considerations totally against constitutional principles and to help his political party”, as per the report.

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The Shinde camp has also challenged the appointment of Ajay Choudhari as the leader of the Shiv Sena Legislative Party (SSLP). Referring to the Members of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly (Disqualification on ground of Defection) Rules, 1986, it claimed that Choudhari’s appointment was “illegal” and “unconstitutional”, the report further said.

Shinde asserts that he and his supporters have not given up Shiv Sena membership and their activities do not come within the meaning of the term “voluntarily giving up membership” under Paragraph 2 of the Tenth Schedule, according to a LiveLaw report.

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The petition further said that the disqualification notices are not maintainable as mere absence from party meetings cannot be a ground for disqualification. The whip issued by the party is applicable only to proceedings within the House. The majority of the party members had in any case annulled the appointment of Sunil Prabhu as the Chief Whip and had appointed Bharat Gogawale as the Chief Whip instead. So the whip issued by is not valid, according to the report.

(With inputs from agencies)