Shiv Sena Leader Bharat Gogavale Appeals to Bombay HC For Urgent Hearing On MLA Disqualification Challenge

Mumbai: A Shiv Sena leader has approached the Bombay High Court seeking an urgent hearing on his pleas challenging Maharashtra Speaker Rahul Narwekar's order to not disqualify 14 MLAs belonging to the rival faction led by Uddhav Thackeray.

Shiv Sena leader Bharatshet Gogavale on Thursday pleaded before the division bench of Justices AS Chandurkar and Rajesh Patil for an urgent hearing on the petitions he filed in January.

About The Petition

The bench has posted the hearing to August 6. Gogavale, the chief whip of Shinde's Shiv Sena party, filed petitions on January 12, challenging the “legality, propriety and correctness” of the January 10 order passed by Narwekar, dismissing his disqualification petitions against the 14 MLAs of the Shiv Sena (UBT). He sought the court to declare the Speaker's order as bad in law, quash it, and disqualify the 14 MLAs.

In the petitions, Gogavale said on July 3, 2022, he had issued a whip to all Shiv Sena members to vote in favour of the government during the confidence motion in the Assembly. However, the 14 MLAs violated the whip and also voluntarily gave up the membership of the "Shiv Sena Political Party by their acts and omissions", he said.