Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Wednesday issued notices to 14 Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) MLAs, Maharashtra Assembly Speaker, and State Legislature Secretariat for non-disqualification of these MLAs.
The notice was issued on a petition filed by Bharatshet Gogawale, chief whip of Eknath Shinde led Shiv Sena faction. Gogawale had on Monday, filed 14 different petitions against the MLAs with the Speaker and the Maharashtra Legislature Secretariat as the other respondents. The notice will now be served on the secretariat as well said former additional solicitor general Anil Singh and senior counsel Anil Sakhare who appeared for Gogawale in separate petitions.
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The matter was listed before a division bench of Justice Girish Kulkarni and Justice F P Poonawalla. The bench gave liberty to the petitioner to also serve all the parties as well and posted the matter next for hearing on February 8.
The Speaker had on January 10, held the Shinde faction to be the real Shiv Sena and Gogawale to be validly appointed whip.
Gogawale is challenging the “legality, propriety and correctness” of the Speaker’s order that dismissed his disqualification petition against Sunil Prabhu and other MLAs of the UBT faction.
Challenging the Speaker’s failure to disqualify the Sena (UBT) MLAs who “voted against the own party and against the whip” that Gogawale said he had issued, he has sought that the HC quash that part of the Speaker’s order.
Gogawale contended that the Speaker’s decision was “arbitrary, unconstitutional and illegal” and that the Sena (UBT) MLAs had voluntarily given up party membership.
Sena (UBT) on the other hand had approached the Supreme Court challenging the Speaker’s decision of holding Shinde faction as the “real political party” and his refusal to disqualify MLAs from the Shinde faction.
Narwekar had held that Sunil Prabhu, who was the chief whip representing the Uddhav faction, “ceased to be the duly authorised whip from June 21, 2022”.
The Speaker had also held that Shinde factions had support of 37 MLAs on June 21, 2022 and Shinde faction was the real political party and Gogawale’s appointment as chief whip was valid, his order said.
Shinde had taken oath as CM of Maharashtra on June 30, 2022 and on July 3, Narwekar, an advocate, was appointed the Speaker of the State Legislative Assembly.
Narwekar held no MLA from either faction faced disqualified — from Shinde faction or from the UBT faction. Both factions had filed disqualification pleas against MLAs from the other side.
Gogawale contented before the HC in his petition that Sunil Prabhu against whom his petition is filed, had voted (during trust vote for Shinde government) contrary to the whip dated July 4, 2022 issued by (Gogawale), who is duly recognized as chief whip by the Speaker.
Gogawale’s petition said, “The final order and judgment dated January 10 passed by the Speaker erroneously concludes that the grounds as raised by the petitioner herein are mere allegations and assertions on the part of the petitioner. This conclusion is ex facie illegal and cannot be sustained.”
Dismissing the plea of the Shinde faction, the Speaker had held that contention of the UBT faction MLAs of having “voluntarily given up” the party’s membership was “mere allegation” with nothing to substantiate it.
Narwekar had also held that the July 3, whip issued by Gogawale contained no words that indicated its disobedience would attract disqualification, therefore Gogawale’s disqualification plea “must be rejected”.
“This vote is a part of the record of the assembly, and in no manner can be said to be a mere allegation,” said the petition.
