SC asks Maha Speaker to decide defection pleas in Shiv Sena split by Dec 31, NCP split by Jan 31

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday directed that proceedings in deciding pending defection petitions in the Shiv Sena split case shall be concluded by December 31. The top court has also directed the Speaker to conclude NCP's defection petitions by January 31, 2024.

A bench comprising Chief Justice of India, D.Y. Chandrachud, and Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra heard the pleas seeking an expeditious decision by the Speaker of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly in the disqualification proceedings against Shiv Sena MLAs and NCP MLAs.

Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta apprised CJI D.Y. Chandrachud, who was heading the three-judge bench, that as per the previous hearing, he has spoken with the Maharashtra legislative Assembly Speaker.

SG Mehta submitted before the court that in the wake of the upcoming Diwali and Christmas break, the Speaker will attempt to conclude the hearing by January 31, 2024. He requested the court to list the hearing in January and see the progress.

The CJI, however, said that the court wants the Speaker to conclude the proceedings by December 31.

The petition filed by NCP leader Jayant Patil (Sharad Pawar faction) seeking a decision on pending defection petitions was also listed along with Shiv Sena leader Sunil Prabhu's (Uddhav Thackeray faction) plea for hearing on Monday.

The top court has directed that the Maharashtra Speaker should conclude the hearing in NCP defection petitions by January 31.

On October 17, the top court had given Maharashtra Speaker Rahul Narwekar a final opportunity to provide a realistic schedule for deciding the pending defection petitions filed by the two rival factions of the Shiv Sena led by Uddhav Thackeray and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde against each other.

A bench headed by the CJI had accepted the submission of Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta, who assured the court that he would personally engage with the Speaker during the Dussehra vacation.

After Mehta sought more time from the court for the Speaker to decide the timeline, the CJI pulled up Mehta on the Speaker's recent interview.

Narwekar had said that it was his duty to maintain the sovereignty of the legislature and that the Constitution has given equal place to the judiciary, legislature and executive and no one has any superintendence over the other.

The Supreme Court on October 13 came down heavily on Narwekar for the delay in hearing and deciding the disqualification petitions filed by Shiv Sena and NCP.

Following the split in the party last year, the two factions of Shiv Sena filed petitions against each other under the anti-defection law. NCP leader Patil had also filed a petition in the apex court against the delay by the Maharashtra Speaker in hearing the defection pleas following a split in the NCP recently.

The apex court had said that the Speaker should take a decision in the matter at least before the next Lok Sabha elections and should not render the issue infructuous by delaying it.

The CJI had conveyed displeasure regarding the Speaker's conduct to Mehta and warned that the court would pass a peremptory order setting down a timeline if a hearing schedule is not put in place.