Supreme Court to Hear Thackeray vs. Shinde Sena Dispute on August 7

The Supreme Court of India announced it will hear a plea from the Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena on August 7, challenging the Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar’s decision that recognized the faction led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde as the legitimate Shiv Sena. This dispute arose following a split in the party in June 2022.

The hearing stems from Speaker Narwekar’s dismissal of the disqualification petitions filed by the Thackeray faction against CM Shinde and his supporting MLAs. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing the Thackeray faction, raised concerns about the plea being unnecessarily tagged with another case involving the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), which he argued could complicate matters. However, the bench, comprising Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, Justices JB Pardiwala, and Manoj Misra, clarified that while the cases would be heard consecutively, they were not tagged together.

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In a separate but related hearing, the Supreme Court had also sought responses from Ajit Pawar and his group of 40 MLAs on a plea by the Sharad Pawar faction of the NCP, which also challenges Speaker Narwekar’s ruling in a similar context. This indicates a broader scrutiny of party splits and the legal battles over party leadership and legitimacy.

The Thackeray faction’s plea argues that the decisions by the Speaker are “patently unlawful and perverse,” accusing the Shinde-led government of rewarding defectors instead of addressing acts of defection. The faction contends that the majority of the Shiv Sena MLAs, who supported Shinde during the split, do not accurately represent the party’s will and thus should face disqualification.

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The Speaker’s ruling in January rejected the Thackeray faction’s plea to disqualify 16 MLAs from the ruling camp, reinforcing Shinde’s position as Chief Minister, which he secured after leading a rebellion against Thackeray 18 months prior. This ruling has further solidified his political influence within the ruling coalition, which includes the BJP and the NCP (Ajit Pawar group).

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