Uddhav Thackeray vs Eknath Shinde: SC to hear arguments over larger bench point

New Delhi: A five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud will be hearing the Shiv Sena split case today on whether it should be referred or not to a seven-judge bench.

Besides the CJI, the bench comprises Justices MR Shah, Krishna Murari, Hima Kohli and PS Narasimha.

It tried to complete the hearing on March 2, but the case spilled over as senior Advocate Harish Salve stepped in to argue on behalf of the Chief Minister Shinde group and was allowed to complete the arguments on Tuesday.

Court's effort is to finish the hearing on Tuesday itself

The court's effort is to finish the hearing on Tuesday itself as it has allowed half-an-hour each to Shinde's two senior Advocates Mahesh Jethmalani and Maninder Singh as well as Solicitor General Tushar Mehta on behalf of then governor BS Koshyari whose actions have come under questioning by the bench.

Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the Uddhav Thackeray group, will then get time for the rejoinder as he had asked to refer the apex court's decision in the 2016 Nabam Rebia case to a seven-judge bench. According to the verdict, a speaker can't disqualify house members when a resolution seeking his removal is pending. The judgement isn't in the favour of the Uddhav group as it had sought disqualification of rebel MLAs when a removal notice moved by the Shinde Faction was already pending against then assembly speaker Narhari Zirwal.