The Supreme Court on Monday issued a directive for Ajit Pawar and his cohort of 40 MLAs to respond to a plea filed by the Sharad Pawar faction of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). This plea challenges the Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar’s decision, which recognized the Ajit Pawar-led group as the authentic faction of the NCP. The bench, led by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, along with Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, highlighted the urgency of the hearing due to the impending expiration of the state assembly’s term in November this year.
The conflict within the NCP reached the judiciary after the Speaker declared on February 15 that the faction led by Ajit Pawar, who had distanced himself from his uncle Sharad Pawar to align with the BJP-Shiv Sena government, represented the legitimate NCP. This decision came amid contested disqualification petitions filed by opposing groups within the party, each seeking to oust the other’s MLAs.
During the proceedings, the bench decided to schedule the hearing of the plea by NCP lawmakers Jayant Patil and Jitendra Awhad from the Sharad Pawar faction immediately following a related petition by the Uddhav Thackeray camp. Both factions are contesting the Speaker’s rulings which have had significant political ramifications in the state.
Chief Justice Chandrachud remarked, “We will issue notice, all objections including on grounds of maintainability will be decided at final disposal. Liberty is granted to serve the other respondents with ‘dasti’.”
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The apex court’s intervention in this internal party dispute underscores the complexities of the anti-defection law as outlined in the Constitution’s Tenth Schedule, which the Speaker had referenced, noting it should not suppress internal party dissent. Furthermore, he recognized that the Ajit Pawar faction held an “overwhelming legislative majority” of 41 out of 53 MLAs at the time of the party split in July 2023.
