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Nabam Rebia case: SC to consider referring it after hearing Sena factions
Sunil Prabhu, the chief whip of Shiv Sena’s Uddhav Thackeray faction, has sought the reference of the 2016 decision to a larger bench of seven judges
The Supreme Court on Friday said the question of referring its 2016 decision in the Nabam Rebia case related to a speaker’s power to adjudicate on the disqualification of an assembly member to a larger bench of seven judges will arise only after considering the petitions of rival Shiv Sena factions in this regard.
In the 2016 verdict, the court said a speaker could not adjudicate on such disqualification when there is a notice seeking his own removal. The ruling involved the then speaker of the Arunachal Pradesh assembly.
Sunil Prabhu, the chief whip of Shiv Sena’s Uddhav Thackeray faction, has sought the reference of the 2016 decision to a larger bench.
The faction claimed the 2016 decision influenced the top court on June 27 last year to grant an extension of time to the 16 rebel Shiv Sena lawmakers facing a notice of disqualification to file their replies before the then deputy speaker officiating as speaker of the Maharashtra assembly.
The rival Eknath Shinde-led faction submitted that such a reference was unnecessary and purely “academic” as the 16 never got to vote as Thackeray resigned as the chief minister a day before a proposed floor test ordered on June 30 last year. Shinde succeeded Thackeray with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s support.
Shinde led a rebellion of Shiv Sena legislators against Thackeray. He approached the top court after the rebels were served a disqualification notice. After the court’s June 27 ruling, the governor ordered the floor test.
A Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud-led five-judge bench on Friday said the reference cannot be considered in an abstract and isolated manner and divorced from the facts of the case.
The five-judge bench, which also includes justices MR Shah, Krishna Murari, Hima Kohli, and PS Narasimha, kept the issue of reference open. It said whether such a reference is warranted will be decided after arguments on the merits of the case.
The arguments in the matter will begin on February 21.
On Wednesday, the court said the rival Shiv Sena factions have posed a tough constitutional question that has serious consequences for the polity as it weighed the options of referring the 2016 decision to the larger bench.
