Hearing on NCP split from Jan 4

Maharashtra assembly speaker to start hearing disqualification petitions filed by warring factions of NCP, mandated by Supreme Court to finish by Jan 31.

Mumbai: Maharashtra assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar will start hearing disqualification petitions filed by warring factions of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) from Thursday, as the Supreme Court has mandated that the hearing must be completed by January 31.

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The hearing will take place in the central hall of the state legislature in Nariman Point. “On the first day, both factions would exchange documents as the Sharad Pawar faction had sought permission for personal verification of documents. The speaker is also expected to ask if they want to file a rejoinder,” said a senior official from the state legislature.

“The Speaker has been asked to complete the hearing in the case by the end of this month. This is the reason he has decided to start the hearing process even before giving his verdict in the disqualification petitions linked to the vertical split in Shiv Sena,” he pointed out.

Narwekar has to pronounce the verdict on the Sena split by January 10.