MLA Disqualification Case: Bombay HC Issues Notice to Maharashtra Speaker Rahul Narwekar on Shinde Faction Pleas

On Wednesday, January 17, the Bombay High Court issued notices to Maharashtra Speaker Rahul Narwekar and the 14 MLAs of the Uddhav Thackeray faction in response to petitions filed by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena challenging the Speaker's order not to disqualify the lawmakers. A division bench of Justices Girish Kulkarni and Firdosh Pooniwalla also issued notices to the Maharashtra Legislature Secretariat and directed all the respondents to file their affidavits for the petition.

The bench scheduled the hearing for February 8. The petitions, filed by Bharat Gogavale, the chief whip of Shinde-led Shiv Sena against the 14 MLAs, challenge the "legality, propriety, and correctness" of the January 10 order passed by Speaker Narwekar, dismissing the disqualification petitions filed by him against the lawmakers from the rival camp, as reported by the news agency PTI.

Simultaneously, the Shiv Sena (UBT) has urgently sought listing in the Supreme Court for their plea against the Speaker's decision declaring the Shinde faction as the "real Shiv Sena." On January 10, Narwekar stated that the Shinde faction was the "real Shiv Sena," asserting that when the rival factions emerged, Sunil Prabhu (representing the Uddhav faction) "ceased to be the duly authorized whip from June 21, 2022," and Gogawale was validly appointed the chief whip.