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Thackeray faction moves SC, challenges Maha Guv decision to invite Shinde as CM
The top court agreed to list the petition, along with other cases related to the rebel Shiv Sena MLAs, for hearing on Monday
The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena faction on Friday approached the Supreme Court, opposing the June 30 decision of Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari to invite the coalition of rebel Shiv Sena MLAs and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to form the new government in the state.
The top court agreed to list the petition, along with other cases related to the rebel MLAs, for hearing on Monday.
In the petition, filed through the party’s general secretary Subhash Desai, the Thackeray faction said the satisfaction of the Governor to call upon Eknath Shinde to be the chief minister of the new coalition and head of the 39 rebel MLAs is “ex-facie unconstitutional”, as these MLAs have not merged with the BJP, making them liable to be disqualified under the Tenth Schedule.
The petition was mentioned before a vacation bench of justices Indira Banerjee and JK Maheshwari for listing the matter along with a bunch of earlier pending petitions on the issue of trust vote, appointment of chief whip in the assembly by the newly-elected Speaker, and disqualification pleas against 16 rebel Sena MLAs.
“List the petition before the appropriate bench on July 11,” the bench said.
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The current petition filed by advocate Anish R Shah also questioned the validity of the proceedings in the assembly conducted on July 3-4, by which the new Speaker, BJP MLA Rahul Narvekar, was elected, and over the rebel Sena MLAs-BJP coalition proving their majority on the floor of the House.
The Thackeray camp earlier approached the apex court through its chief whip Sunil Prabhu on July 4, challenging the Speaker’s decision to appoint rebel MLA Bharat Gogawale belonging to the Shinde camp as the chief whip of Shiv Sena in the House. A letter issued by the newly elected Speaker recognized Shinde as Shiv Sena’s legislative party leader in the assembly. The vacation bench listed this petition also for July 11.
Last Friday, Prabhu moved another petition in the top court, seeking the suspension of 16 rebel MLAs against whom disqualification pleas are pending. Earlier, on June 27, the SC allowed the rebel MLAs time till July 12 to reply to the disqualification notices sent to them.
Later on June 29, the Governor ordered a floor test, following which the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government approached the SC to defer the trust vote, pending disqualification proceedings.
However, in a late evening hearing the same day, the bench allowed the trust vote to proceed, stating that it will be subject to the outcome of the petition pending before it. Shinde was sworn in on June 30 as the new chief minister.
