The Supreme Court on Wednesday adjourned the hearing on Shiv Sena turmoil to August 1 and asked the Eknath Shinde camp to file an affidavit in response to the Uddhav Thackeray-led faction’s plea seeking disqualification of the rebel MLAs.
A 3-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice of India N V Ramana is hearing a batch of half a dozen petitions -- one set filed by the Shinde camp and the remaining by the Thackeray faction.
The Chief Justice hinted at setting up of a larger Bench as several constitutional issues are involved.
The Shinde camp has challenged the disqualification proceedings initiated by Deputy Speaker Narhari Zirwal against the rebel MLAs when they were in Guwahati and a vacation bench of the top court had stayed the process.
The five pleas by the Thackeray camp include challenge to the new Speaker Rahul Narwekar's steps, Governor BS Koshyari's order asking the Thackeray government to prove its majority, the Governor swearing in Shinde as the new CM and a petition seeking suspension of the Shinde camp MLAs.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Thackeray camp, challenged the Governor’s decision to swear in the new government when the Supreme Court was hearing the matter.
"The election of Assembly Speaker is equally bad in law because he has been elected by MLAs against whom disqualification applications are pending," Sibal argued.
If formation of the Shinde government is accepted, then every elected government in the country can be toppled, reasoned Sibal, adding that "democracy is in danger if the state governments can be toppled despite the bar under the 10th Schedule of Constitution."
Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, also representing Thackeray camp, said the deputy speaker sat on their disqualification complaints and didn't even issue notice.
"The condition in tenth Schedule is that not only you should have 2/3rds going but also the 2/3rd should merge with another party. It is common ground that my friends have not merged with another party. They are not calling themselves BJP," Singhvi said.
Senior advocate Harish Salve, representing the Shinde camp, asserted that there is no defection to attract the Tenth Schedule. What is wrong if a large number of people in a party feel that another man should lead, he asked, pointing out that this is the situation in Maharashtra since defection is only when you leave the party and join hands with another, which didn't happen.
"Are we in a fantasy land in such a hopeless situation that a man who cannot even find 20 MLAs to support him has to be brought back to power by the courts,’’ Salve asked and sought a week's time to reply to Thackeray camp's latest plea.
At this stage, the CJI said: "Instead of referring it to a later date, we can have a larger Bench."
Appearing for the Governor, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said he doesn't have a copy of the new pleas filed in the matter.
