Uddhav Thackeray camp moves Supreme Court seeking CM Eknath Shinde's suspension from House; hearing on July 11

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday said it will hear on July 11 the plea of Shiv Sena chief whip Sunil Prabhu seeking suspension from Maharashtra Assembly of new Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and 15 rebel MLAs against whom disqualification pleas are pending.

A vacation bench of Justices Surya Kant and JB Pardiwala was urged by senior advocate Kapil Sibal that the plea filed by Prabhu required an urgent hearing.

"There is no merger. The moment he (Shinde) is sworn in he has violated the 10th schedule. So he is not the party. How are you going to control the House? Whose whip is to be followed? This is not the dance of democracy," the senior counsel said.

The bench said that it was conscious of the issue and not shutting its eyes. It said it would hear the case on July 11, along with Shinde's plea against disqualification notices to rebel MLAs.

"We are conscious of what's happening. We have not shut our eyes. Let us see what the procedure is and how it is applied," said the bench.

The fresh application was filed by Prabhu seeking the suspension of 16 rebel Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) till the final adjudication of the disqualification proceedings initiated against them by the Deputy Speaker of the Maharashtra Assembly.

It also sought direction to restrain them from entering the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly or participating in any proceeding relating to the House till the deputy Speaker's decision.

The plea said that the Tenth Schedule should not be rendered toothless by the ingenious device of sending a pre-planned notice for removal of a Speaker in order to pre-empt and thwart the Tenth Schedule proceedings.

"Pass an interim order suspending the delinquent MLAs, against whom disqualification petitions have been filed by the applicant herein, from the membership of the 14th Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, till the final adjudication of the Tenth Schedule proceedings initiated against them," the application stated.

It added, "Restrain the delinquent MLAs, against whom disqualification petitions have been filed by the applicant herein, from entering the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly or participating in any proceeding relating to the House till the final adjudication of the disqualification proceedings against them."

The plea stated that Eknath Shinde becoming the Chief Minister and Devendra Fadnavis becoming Deputy CM was a clear reflection that Shinde and the delinquent MLAs had been hand in gloves with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) all along with the aim of bringing down the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.

As a reward for anti-party activity, the BJP offered the post of Chief Minister to Shinde despite having the largest number in the State Assembly, said the plea.

"The conduct of the delinquents is so egregious and palpable that it does not even require calling for any explanation, but should straightaway lead to termination from the membership of the Maharashtra Legislative

Assembly of Eknath Shinde along with all the rebel MLAs supporting him," the plea of Prabhu stated.
On June 29, the top court gave a go-ahead to the floor test in the Maharashtra Assembly on June 30. Refusing to stay the Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari's direction to the then Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to prove his majority support on the floor of the House on June 30, the bench issued notice on Prabhu's plea against floor test.

On June 27, the top court granted interim relief to Shinde and other rebel MLAs to file their reply on disqualification notices issued to them by Deputy Speaker by July 12, 5.30 pm. Earlier, Deputy Speaker had granted them time to file a reply by June 27, 5.30 pm.

The order of the apex court had come while hearing the petitions filed by the Shinde group challenging the disqualification notices issued by the Deputy Speaker to 16 rebel MLAs as well as the appointment of Ajay Choudhary as Shiv Sena Legislature Party leader.
The bench had posted all the matter for hearing on July 11. (ANI)