MUMBAI: The Bombay high court has issued a notice to Maharashtra assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar and 10 MLAs from Sharad Pawar’s NCP faction. The notice comes in response to petitions challenging the speaker’s decision to not disqualify them. Anil Patil, the chief whip of the NCP, had filed two petitions against the speaker’s decision. The high court has also issued notice to the Maharashtra legislature secretariat and directed all respondents to file their affidavits. The matter will be further heard on March 14.
In the petitions, Patil requested the court to declare the speaker’s order as invalid and disqualify all 10 legislators. The petitions argued against the legality and correctness of the order passed by Narwekar, which dismissed the disqualification petitions against the MLAs. Patil’s counsel, Mukul Rohatgi, highlighted that the speaker’s findings were in favor of Ajit Pawar’s faction, except for the non-disqualification of the 10 MLAs from Sharad Pawar’s faction.
Rohatgi argued that the actions of the 10 MLAs were against the interests of the party and therefore they should have been disqualified. He emphasized that this was not just an internal dispute within the party. The bench, after briefly hearing the arguments, decided to issue notices to the respondents and directed them to file affidavits for further proceedings.
Last week, Narwekar ruled that the faction led by Ajit Pawar is the real NCP but did not disqualify MLAs from either faction. Patil claimed that the speaker wrongly concluded that the split in the NCP was an intra-party dissent. He argued that if the NCP led by Ajit Pawar is recognized as the real political party, then the disqualification petitions should have been allowed as well.
The conflict between Ajit Pawar and Sharad Pawar began when Ajit and eight MLAs joined the Shiv Sena-led Maharashtra government in July 2023. The two factions have been disputing over the ownership of the party and whether MLAs from the opposing faction should be disqualified under Section 2(1)(A) of the Tenth Schedule. On February 7, the Election Commission recognized the faction led by Ajit Pawar as the real NCP and assigned it the party’s ‘clock’ symbol. The EC later granted the name ‘Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar’ to the group led by Sharad Pawar. On February 15, Narwekar ruled that the NCP faction led by Ajit Pawar is the real NCP and that the anti-defection provisions cannot be used to suppress internal dissent. The Supreme Court has directed that the EC’s order regarding the name ‘Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar’ will continue until further orders.
In the petitions, Patil requested the court to declare the speaker’s order as invalid and disqualify all 10 legislators. The petitions argued against the legality and correctness of the order passed by Narwekar, which dismissed the disqualification petitions against the MLAs. Patil’s counsel, Mukul Rohatgi, highlighted that the speaker’s findings were in favor of Ajit Pawar’s faction, except for the non-disqualification of the 10 MLAs from Sharad Pawar’s faction.
Rohatgi argued that the actions of the 10 MLAs were against the interests of the party and therefore they should have been disqualified. He emphasized that this was not just an internal dispute within the party. The bench, after briefly hearing the arguments, decided to issue notices to the respondents and directed them to file affidavits for further proceedings.
Last week, Narwekar ruled that the faction led by Ajit Pawar is the real NCP but did not disqualify MLAs from either faction. Patil claimed that the speaker wrongly concluded that the split in the NCP was an intra-party dissent. He argued that if the NCP led by Ajit Pawar is recognized as the real political party, then the disqualification petitions should have been allowed as well.
The conflict between Ajit Pawar and Sharad Pawar began when Ajit and eight MLAs joined the Shiv Sena-led Maharashtra government in July 2023. The two factions have been disputing over the ownership of the party and whether MLAs from the opposing faction should be disqualified under Section 2(1)(A) of the Tenth Schedule. On February 7, the Election Commission recognized the faction led by Ajit Pawar as the real NCP and assigned it the party’s ‘clock’ symbol. The EC later granted the name ‘Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar’ to the group led by Sharad Pawar. On February 15, Narwekar ruled that the NCP faction led by Ajit Pawar is the real NCP and that the anti-defection provisions cannot be used to suppress internal dissent. The Supreme Court has directed that the EC’s order regarding the name ‘Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar’ will continue until further orders.