Ritika
Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who leads a faction of the Shiv Sena, on Friday said his party has faith in the judiciary and expressed hope that the Supreme Court will deal with the 2022 Maharashtra political crisis. He will decide the matter on the basis of merits and demerits. However, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Bal Thackeray – UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said the Uddhav Thackeray-led party is the “real” Shiv Sena and truth will prevail when the Supreme Court hears the matter on February 21.
The Supreme Court on Friday refused to refer petitions related to the political crisis in Maharashtra that arose in June 2022 after the Shiv Sena split into two factions, to a seven-judge bench to review the 2016 Nabam Rebia verdict.
Chief Justice D.Y. A five-judge constitution bench headed by Chandrachud said it would consider on February 21 on merits whether reference to the 2016 judgment on the Speaker’s powers to disqualify legislators was required or not.
Responding to this, Chief Minister Shinde said, “We have faith in the judiciary. We hope that the decision will be taken on the basis of merit. We have a majority government and it is constituted legally. He alleged that the opposition wanted to send the matter to a larger bench to prolong the hearing.
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He said, “Majority is important in a democracy and our government has been formed on this basis. We are working for the welfare of the people.” Raut told ‘PTI-Bhasha’ that his party believes that when the apex court pronounces its verdict, truth will prevail and justice will be done. “Governments and political parties cannot be destabilized through the use of money power. We want a clean political system.”
Rahul Shewale, leader of the Shinde faction in the Lok Sabha, told reporters that the Thackeray-led Shiv Sena’s legal stand was weak. He said, “They want to escalate the matter. But his stance is weak.” He alleged that the Shiv Sena (UBT) does not believe in democratic principles and does not trust the judiciary.
“They did everything they could to prolong the matter in the Supreme Court and the Election Commission of India,” he said. In 2016, a five-judge constitution bench, while deciding the Nabam Rebia case of Arunachal Pradesh, had held that the Speaker cannot proceed with a petition for disqualification of legislators if a prior intimation for their removal is pending before the House. (agency)
