Maharashtra Speaker Rahul Narwekar Hits Back at Uddhav Thackeray Over Chief Minister Meeting

Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar on Wednesday took a swipe at former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray following his objection to a recent meeting between Narwekar and current Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.    

Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) had moved the Supreme Court, raising concerns about the January 7 meeting at Varsha, Shinde's official residence, potentially impacting Narwekar's impartiality in ruling on disqualification petitions against Shinde and other rebel MLAs.

He, being the former CM, must know about the role of speaker. Speakers do meet CM for many works but when Uddhav Thackeray was CM, he did get the time to know about what role the speaker has in assembly. There are many purposes for which a speaker could meet a chief minister, Rahul Narwekar told reporters on Wednesday. In its application, the Thackeray faction stated that the Speaker, as the adjudicating authority under the Tenth Schedule, is "required to act fairly and impartially."

It said the conduct of the Speaker must inspire confidence and justify the constitutional trust reposed in its high office. However, the present act of the Speaker raises questions about the fairness and impartiality of the decision-making process, Uddhav Thackeray's application stated.

The act of the Speaker is in violation of the legal maxim and this application has been filed in view of the alarming news that the Speaker met Shinde at his official residence on January 7, three days prior to the deadline when the decision in disqualification petitions against Shinde is to be pronounced on January 10, stated Uddhav Thackeray's application

Narwekar's retort comes amid heightened political tension in the state over the ongoing battle for control of the Shiv Sena party symbol. The Speaker, as the adjudicating authority in disqualification cases, faces a crucial deadline of January 10 to deliver his verdict.